Isaac of Stella, the Cistercians and the Thomas Becket Controversy: a Bibliographical and Contextual Study

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Isaac of Stella, the Cistercians and the Thomas Becket Controversy: A Bibliographical and Contextual Study

Travis D. Stolz Marquette University

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Recommended Citation Stolz, Travis D., "Isaac of Stella, the Cistercians and the Thomas Becket Controversy: A Bibliographical and Contextual Study" (2010). Dissertations (1934 -). 87. https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/87 ISAAC OF STELLA, THE CISTERCIANS AND THE THOMAS BECKET CONTROVERSY: A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AND CONTEXTUAL STUDY

by

Travis D. Stolz, B.A., M.Div.

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty ofthe Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for the Degree ofDoctor of Philosophy

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

December 2010 ABSTRACT ISAAC OF STELLA, THE CISTERCIANS AND THE THOMAS BECKET CONTROVERSY: A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL AND CONTEXTUAL STUDY

Travis D. Stolz, B.A., M.Div.

Marquette University, 2010

Isaac of Stella (ca. 1IOO-ca. 1169), an English-born Cistercian and abbot, has been dwarfed by Bernard of Clairvaux and other ofhis twelfth-century Cistercian contemporaries in terms ofliterary output and influence, giving him a reputation as an elusive and marginal figure. Isaac's 55 sermons and two treatises are modest compared to the productivity of other monastic writers and his position as the abbot of an obscure monastery in western France has not helped to raise his visibility among the luminaries of the twelfth century. He is remembered as a mysterious and often tragic figure in the annals ofhistory.

Recent scholarship has shed light on this elusive abbot. One area ofhis life that has attracted some attention has been Isaac's involvement in the controversy between Henry II (1133-89) and Thomas Becket (ca. 1120-70), archbishop of Canterbury. Gaetano Raciti in particular has argued that Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy, specifically siding with Becket in the archbishop's quarrel with the king, led to Isaac's exile to the island ofRe and the loss of his abbacy. Raciti's research, which continues to be influential, focused on Isaac's sermons and from them he compiled numerous biographical and historical clues to piece together Isaac's ultimate downfall as abbot.

But Raciti's interpretations have been reconsidered by a few scholars, initially by Claude Garda as well as the subsequent research of Ferruccio Gastaldelli and Elias Dietz. In this dissertation, I continue the reconsideration ofRaciti's interpretations. In particular I focus on Isaac's role as a monk as well as his continuity with the Christian monastic tradition. Contrary to Raciti's interpretations, I demonstrate that Isaac's support of Becket was minimal and not the cause of serious consequences affecting his abbacy. This demonstration is based on reading Isaac's sermons not as sources of either biographical or historical data but rather as monastic sermons. Isaac's sermons provide proof of his continuity with his monastic forbears and place them in their proper theological and monastic context. Isaac emerges as neither mysterious nor tragic but rather as a monk who wrote for monks. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Travis D. Stolz, B.A., M.Div.

The origin ofthis dissertation can be traced back to the fall of2002 when I took

Dr. Wanda Zemler-Cizewski's seminar on the twelfth century. This was followed by a

study ofthe Glossa ordinaria, also with Dr. Zemler-Cizewski, in the fall of2003. Both

ofthese experiences created in me a love ofmedieval history and theology, as well as

providing me with the armature with which to write this dissertation. Heretofore my

interests lay mainly in patristics and early Christian monasticism. I became fascinated,

however, by a period commonly dismissed as backward and dark, one for which

Gibbon's rather dismal description as being the "triumph ofbarbarism and religion"

remains the standard view.

It was then that I first read the figure who would come to occupy so much ofmy

time, Isaac of Stella (ca. 1100-ca. 1169). The people who have enabled me to write about

my Cistercian friend from the twelfth century are far too numerous to mention. I must, however, acknowledge the following to whom lowe a particular debt of gratitude.

Pride ofplace must be given to my patient and longsuffering adviser, Dr. Wanda

Zemler-Cizewski, who believed in me~espite my giving her much evidence to the contrary-and was a continual source of encouragement, direction and support.

I am especially grateful to the members of my committee for giving so much of their time and energy to this dissertation: Dr. Michel Rene Barnes, Hieromonk Alexander

(Golitzin), the Rev. Dr. Julian V. Hills, and Dr. Mickey L. Mattox. They deserve much credit for helping me address the clumsiness ofmy prose, inelegancies of style and other 11 literary sins. lowe a considerable debt as well to the indefatigable Gale A. Prusinski,

Assistant to the Chair ofthe Department of Theology and a truly kind soul.

"Whatever action a great man performs," Krishna tells Atjuna in the Bhagavad

Gila, "common men follow. And whatever standard he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues" (3.21). I follow many great men as well as women and am indebted to far too many than I am presently able to name. The following are some ofthe truly great individuals from whom I have benefited much.

To Marquette University's administrators and deans, especially Fr. Robert A.

Wild, SJ, President, for their service and dedication.

To the Helen Way Klingler College ofArts and Sciences, in particular Fr. Philip

1. Rossi, SJ, Interim Dean, for not simply providing but also valuing the arles liberales.

To the Graduate School, in particular Dr. Jeanne M. Hossenlopp, Vice Provost for

Research and Dean, and Craig A. Pierce, Assistant Dean, for continued support throughout my studies.

To my professors in the Department ofTheology, especially Fr. David M. Coffey;

Fr. William S. Kurz, SJ; Fr. Joseph G. Mueller, SJ; Dr. Andrei A. Orlov; Dr. John 1.

Schmitt; and not least Dr. Susan K. Wood, SCL, Department Chair, for their service to the regina scienliarum. To my classmates as well, in particular Fr. Radu Bordeianu; Fr.

Bogdan G. Bucur; Fr. Michael Demko; Fr. Charles Ebelebe, CSSp.; Dr. Dragos Giulea;

Susan E. Ramsey; Pamela Shellberg; and Dr. Matthew Sutton.

To the Rev. Drs. William G. Bodamer and Edward A. Yonan, Millikin University,

Decatur, IL, for setting me on the path and believing in me so long ago. ll1

To the Rev. Drs. Arthur A. Just, Jr., David P. Scaer and William C. Weinrich,

Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN, for instilling in me a love ofHoly

Scripture, the Holy Fathers and the liturgy.

To Fr. Raymond T. Gawronski, SJ, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary,

Denver, CO, for his continued wisdom and kindness.

To Dr. Jean-Pierre Lafouge, Marquette University, for his friendship as well as for being a fellow traveler on the path ofthe philosophia perennis.

To Fr. William N. Olnhausen, St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church,

Cedarburg, WI, my spiritual father and a living icon ofthe love ofChrist. IIuLEp,

EUAoyEtLE!

To Zoe Ganos, my dear friend and vovu, for her prayers and love.

To Fr. Thomas L. Palke, St. Raphael of Brooklyn Antiochian Orthodox Church,

Chantilly, VA; His Grace the Rt. Rev. THOMAS, Bishop ofCharleston, Oakland and the

Mid-Atlantic ofthe Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese ofNorth America; and

His Eminence the Most Rev. PHILIP, Archbishop ofNew York and Metropolitan ofAll

North America ofthe Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese ofNorth America for providing such a wonderful home to my family and me.

To the priests and parishioners ofthe following parishes for welcoming my family and me over the years: Fr. Timothy Bac1ig, St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church,

Van Nuys, CA; Fr. James Coles, St. Ignatius ofAntioch Antiochian Orthodox Church,

Mesa, AZ; Frs. Victor Potapov and John Johnson, Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St.

John the Baptist, Washington, DC; and Fr. David G. Subu, Protection ofthe Holy Mother of God Orthodox Church, Falls Church, VA. IV

To Elder Ephraim, Elder Paisius and the fathers of the Holy Monastery of St.

Anthony the Great, Florence, AZ, for providing hospitality to my family and me over the

years.

To Fr. Gregory Hogg and Fr. Den. A. Gregg Roeber for their prayers,

encouragement and devotion to Christ and His Church.

To the Rev. Dr. Edward O. and Tevia Grimenstein for their goodness and

superlative technical assistance, time and time again.

To Nicholas and Catherine Dujmovic for their friendship, generosity and

hospitality, especially when much study proved to be a weariness of the flesh.

Fr. Louis-Jacques Bataillon, OP, died while I was writing this dissertation. Pere

Bataillon was someone whom I never met but from whose scholarship I continue to benefit.

Robert Baker Aitken Roshi of the Honolulu Diamond Sangha, Honolulu, HI, died as well while I was writing the final draft of this dissertation. I shall remember fondly our conversations and correspondence, as well as his good humor and generosity.

Finally, I must thank my family for their support over the years:

To my parents, the Rev. Dean A. and Janet L. Stolz, for training me up in the way

I should go.

To my brother, Jeffrey D. Stolz, and his family for all the good times and understanding.

To James R. and Nancy E. Huebner for their patience, patronage and encouragement. v

To Lee W. and Bema G. Huebner for providing continued intellectual stimulation as well as much kindness.

To our beautiful children, Ella Ruth, Gillian Rodberg and George Wayne, for providing balance and continually reminding me why I am on this earth.

If the first truly are to be the last, then I must conclude by thanking my wife and my Beatrice, Kristin. "The work of creation is never without travail," as Eliot writes.

Kristin gladly bore the all too many household duties at every stage ofmy travail in writing this dissertation, never failing to provide me with far more devotion, encouragement and support than I deserved. Words cannot corne close to expressing my profound admiration, respect and, above all, love for you. This work would not have been possible without you, Kristin, and it is to you especially that I remain indebted.

Thank you for understanding. I love you! VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .i

INTRODUCTION 1

A. Statement ofthe Problem .1

B. Purpose ofthe Present Study 3

C. Objective of the Present Study .4

D. Status Quaestionis 5

E. Isaac's Life and Career 12

F. Limitations and Scope 30

G. Significance and Contribution of Research to Existing Scholarship 31

H. Organization ofPresent Study 32

1. Summary 34

CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW 37

A. Introduction 37

B. Historical Background of the Problem 38

C. Isaac of Stella's Critics and His Place in Modem Scholarship .46

D. Analysis of Literature Relevant to the Problem .47

E. Relation of Literature to Present Study 68

F. Rationale and Hypotheses for Present Study 71

G. Summary 73

CHAPTER II. RESEARCH METHODS 77

A. Introduction and Overview 77

B. Historical Background to Becket Controversy 78 Vll

1. Thomas Becket's Significance 78

2. Biography and Background of Thomas Becket 80

3. Clash with Henry 11. 86

4. Death and Aftermath 91

5. Investiture Controversy 93

6. Cistercians 104

7. Isaac 113

C. Methods 117

D. Summary 120

CHAPTER III. PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH I23

A. Introduction and Overview 123

1. Restatement of the Purpose of the Present Study 123

B. Presentation of Findings 127

1. Isaac's Predecessors in Monastic Literature 127

2. Monastic Approaches to Scripture 128

3. Geographic and Spatial References 133

4. Isaac's Sermons 138

a. Isaac on Allegory 138

b. Circumstantial Details 146

c. Historical Details 148

d. Geographic Details 151

e. Language, Style and the Question of Vemacular Preaching 154

f. Exile 165 V111

C. Discussion ofFindings 170

D. Summary 183

SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 185

A. Summary 185

B. Interpretation 192

C. Limitations 197

D. Directions for Future Research 201

BIBLIOGRAPHy 208 1

Introduction

A. Statement ofthe Problem

While scholars can no longer affirm Louis Bouyer's remark that Isaac of Stella

(ca. 1100-ca. 1169) is "a great mystery among the Cistercians," Isaac nevertheless remains elusive.! Unlike some of his contemporary Cistercians such as Aelred of

Rievaulx (1110-67), William of St. Thierry (ca. 1075/80-1148) or Bernard of Clairvaux

(l090-1153), Isaac wrote comparatively little: two treatises and 55 sermons. That much ofIsaac's time was spent as the abbot of a small and relatively unimportant monastery near Chauvigny doubtless has not helped his cause.

In neither productivity nor profundity was Isaac another Bernard? "The

Cistercian Order was to produce and inspire many excellent preachers, but surely Saint

Bernard of Clairvaux is the stellar example," Hughes Oliphant Old observes. "(H)e has been consistently recognized through the centuries as a star of the first magnitude, ifnot the greatest preacher ofthe Middle Ages. Even today his sermons are read with abundant profit.,,3 "The Cistercians wrote under the dominating influence ofSt. Bernard," R. W.

Southern reports, "who...gave a theological background and a doctrinal stability and

1 Louis Bouyer, The Cistercian Heritage, trans. Elizabeth A. Livingstone (Westminster, Md.: Newman, 1958), 161. 2 "Read by all men in monastic and ecclesiastical circles, and immensely influential with individuals," writes David Knowles, "Bernard's treatises influenced Abelard and Gilbert de la Porree no more than Newman's essay on the development of doctrine influenced the European theologians who were about to create neo-Thomism in the late nineteenth century. Bernard indeed was the last of the fathers; when all around him was changing, he continued to compose as monuments of his genius the meditative monographs ofa kind that had been the vehicle for all western theology from the days of Augustine to the eleventh century." David Knowles, 'The Middle Ages: 604-1350," in A History ofChristian Doctrine, ed. Hubert Cunliffe-Jones (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997),253. 3 Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching ofthe Scriptures in the Worship ofthe Christian Church: The Medieval Church (Grand Rapids, Mich., and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1998), 256. 2

consistency to the devotional writings of his followers.,,4 "Early Cistercian history and

biography," Hugh McCaffrey describes, "especially if emanating from the Valley of

Glory that Clairvaux then was, depends very much on the glory that was St. Bernard."

While Isaac, abbot of Stella, did not altogether escape that glory, he does not, at first glance, much reflect it, and could give the impression of rejecting it. Small wonder, then, he does not shine very extensively in the story of early Cistercian chronicle.5

In the decades since Bouyer remarked on the "mysteriousness" of Isaac, the

scholarship on Isaac has grown and his mystery has diminished.6 One area of his life that

has received attention has been his role in the controversy between Henry II (1133-89)

and Thomas Becket (ca. 1120-70), archbishop of Canterbury. Gaetano Raciti, among

others, has claimed that Isaac's involvement with and support of Becket led to his exile to

the island ofRe, thus ending his career as abbot of Stella.? But neither Raciti nor others

have focused their attention on Isaac as a monk. What is not understood is whether

4 R. W. Southern, The Making ofthe Middle Ages (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1953),227. Knowles reports: "He [i.e., Bernard] was widely read, but by monks and churchmen rather than by masters in the schools, and when a century later he became an 'authority,' he was cited as the fathers were cited, and like them, his opinions counted for much in the long run, though his influence was perhaps at its greatest in the border country between devotional writing and formal theology." Knowles, "Middle Ages," 254. 5 Sermons on the Christian Year, trans. Hugh McCaffrey (CF II; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1979),221. "The Order in its early years attracted some ofthe most gifted men oftheir generation," Pauline Matarasso writes. "There was no lack of fine minds or literary talent. Indeed it has been said of the first Cistercians that they renounced everything except the art of writing well." The Cistercian World: Monastic Writings ofthe Twelfth Century, ed. and trans. Pauline Matarasso (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1993), xiv. 6 Among the standard reference works, however, coverage of Isaac leaves something to be desired. On the one hand, one can find Ignatius C. Brady, "Isaac of Stella," in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2003 ed., 7: 589-90, as well as Ludwig Hodl, "1. de Stella," in Lexikon des Mittelalters, 1980 ed., 5: 665. But on the other hand, the Dictionary ofthe Middle Ages omits an entry on Isaac entirely. 7 I shall devote much of the following chapter to Raciti's seminal article, "Isaac de l'Etoile et son siecle," Cfteaux 12 (1961): 281-306; 13 (1962): 18-34, 133-45,205-16. Suffice to say for the time being, this article continues to be of great importance and remains one that influences scholars today in their assessment ofIsaac's career. 3

Isaac's role as a monk and his continuity with the Christian monastic tradition were factors in this relationship.

But ifwe look at the evidence from an historical perspective, we see that Raciti's interpretation of the relationship between Isaac and Becket may well be incorrect. Until we have a better understanding ofIsaac as a monk as well as the monastic theology that is contained in his sermons in particular, Isaac will remain to some degree "a great mystery." In what follows, I argue that Isaac's support ofBecket was minimal and led neither to his exile to Re nor any other serious consequences affecting his status as abbot of Stella.

I also argue that while scholars have claimed that Isaac provides clues in his sermons concerning his support ofBecket and its effects, they rather provide proof of

Isaac's fundamental continuity with the Christian monastic tradition. Thus Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy was only slight and while he is on record as supporting Becket, his attention as a monk as well as an abbot was focused far more on the spiritual formation ofhis monks.

B. Purpose ofthe Present Study

In this study, I demonstrate on the basis ofthe historical and documentary evidence, as well as the political and ecclesiastical context of Becket's struggle with

Henry, that Isaac's role was a marginal one, and that therefore whatever support Isaac may have given to Becket and his cause was not the reason for official sanction or retribution. An analysis ofIsaac's involvement with Becket can provide new answers to old questions and, perhaps more important, set the historical record straight. By 4 demonstrating Isaac's continuity with his monastic predecessors, I demonstrate as well

Isaac's theological purpose and motivation in his sennons.

In this chapter I describe the reasons for this study. I begin with a concise statement ofthe problem and explanation of its relevance, as well as the thesis that I shall defend. I establish two important points that fonn the foundation of my argument concerning Isaac. First, that Raciti's theory concerning Isaac, Becket and Isaac's "exile" is a dubious one, built on evidence that fails to consider the historical context. Second, that Raciti's theory overemphasizes Isaac's role, giving him a status or importance he did not have.

c. Objective of the Present Study

The guiding question is whether evidence exists for Isaac's direct role in the

Becket controversy as well as his support ofBecket. My purpose in this study is to rework Isaac's role in the Becket controversy and argue that Isaac was in reality a minor player. Additionally, he was not forced into exile on Re or otherwise persecuted. Isaac was, rather, a monk who wrote for monks and endeavored-particularly in his sennons­ to instruct and guide concerning the monastic life.

What Raciti and most ofthe scholars on Isaac have written does not stand up to scrutiny. The internal evidence within Isaac's sennons, the correspondence of Becket himselfand other historical documents demonstrate that Raciti's interpretations were fundamentally flawed concerning Isaac. Raciti's thesis of a forced exile to the island of

Re as punishment for Isaac's support of Becket, on which I shall elaborate in the 5 following chapter, fails due to Raciti's inexorable drive to extract biographical information from Isaac's sermons. Raciti's speculation nevertheless has proved influential, as demonstrated by the basic acceptance of scholars such as Gaston Salet and

Bernard McGinn. The result is that Isaac is more often than not seen as a tragic figure who suffered much for his political alignment.

D. Status Quaestionis

Much ofthe scholarship on Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy has focused either on the clash ofroyal and ecclesiastical power or, more recently and in particular with Claude Garda,8 the study ofmanuscript and other archival material.

Relatively little attention, however, has been paid to Isaac's role as a monk and abbot.

Practically no attention has been paid to the theological content and context ofIsaac's sermons, both ofwhich are monastic as well as in keeping with his predecessors in the

Christian monastic tradition.

My own understanding ofthe Becket controversy defies easy categorization under the heading of church and state. As Beryl Smalley rightly observes, "It is better to avoid the terms 'Church and State': secular and ecclesiastical government overlapped; Catholic rulers belonged to the polity of Latin Christendom and fought out their quarrels in that framework; the secular State was unheard of.,,9

8 Garda's article, "Du nouveau sur Isaac de I'Etoile," Cfteaux 37 (1986): 8-22, will be treated in the following chapter. 9 Beryl Smalley, The Becket Controversy and the Schools: A Study ofIntellectuals in Politics (Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1973), 15. 6

I have attempted, therefore, not to frame my topic in the familiar terms of church and state. While these terms are well known to us it is an approach that is anachronistic at best concerning the subject at hand. As this is a study in historical theology, I focus rather on Isaac as a monk writing for monks, specifically a Cistercian abbot writing for

(and preaching to) Cistercian monks and lay brothers. The figure of the abbot-cum­ preacher was exemplified in Bernard, about whom Old remarks:

Saint Bernard's example of the abbot-preacher produced a number of preaching abbots in the course of the twelfth century. This was a significant facet of his reform. As abbots they were the pastors of congregations of monks. They well understood that a pastor's first responsibility-indeed, one of the services of Christian love he is charged to perform-is to preach the Word of God to his flock. 10

Since my subject is Isaac himself, my focus will be to tease out what information can be obtained from the admittedly small amount that exists. I concentrate in particular on Isaac'ss sermons and issues such as how and why they were produced, to whom he preached and how he dealt with the text of Scripture before him. My collection of evidence, presented explicitly in Chapter II, will demonstrate that while the sources are hard to come by, much work has been done to collect, analyze and interpret what is available. Much work remains to be done, however, and my research can be only a very modest contribution.

In a letter dated 22 June 1164, John Bellesmains (d. 1204), a fellow Englishman and Bishop of Poitiers since 1162, wrote to Becket. Bellesmains urges Becket to forge closer ties with Guichard, Abbot ofPontigny. He also mentions that their "common

to Old, Reading and Preaching, 284. 7 friend," Isaac of Stella, is joining him in asking the Pontigny houses to pray for Becket's cause. II

From this brief mention, Isaac became inextricably linked to the controversy between Becket and Henry, what David Knowles has called "probably the most familiar episode in the history ofthe twelfth century.,,12 The question ofthe extent to which Isaac was involved in this episode is a crucial one as it forms the raison d'etre of this study as well as the basis on which I shall make my own contribution.

While I shall deal with Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy more fully in Chapter II, here and now I provide a summary ofthe relationship between Isaac and

Becket. The work ofRaciti, which looms so large in the following chapter, must be mentioned here. Scholars of Isaac owe Raciti a tremendous debt of gratitude for working through Isaac's sermons in exacting detail, as evidenced by a series ofarticles that has influenced more than a generation of scholars.

Raciti argued that Isaac was exiled to the island of Re in the late 1160s as a consequence ofhis speculative theology as well as his active support of Becket. While subsequent scholars-most notably Salet and McGinn-have expressed reservations about certain features ofRaciti's argument, they have maintained the general outline of

Raciti's argument as well as his chronology. Only recently have scholars have begun to break with Raciti's notion of a forced exile, about which I shall elaborate in Chapter I.

11 Letter 31. Materials 5: 114; ET: The Correspondence ofThomas Becket, Archbishop of Canturbury, 1162-1170, ed. and trans. Anne Duggan (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000. 2 vols.), I: 105. (Hereafter Correspondence.) 12 David Knowles, The Historian and Character, and Other Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1963),98. 8

Raciti argued that Isaac's references to a period of "exile" on an island, presumably Re,13 actually referred to an exile into which Isaac was forced. Raciti identified two reasons for Isaac's exile: Isaac's speculative theology and in particular his

"concrete and active support toward the cause of Thomas Becket.,,14 According to Raciti,

Geoffrey of Auxerre (ca.ll20-ca. 1188) was responsible for Isaac's exile for both reasons. Indeed, Geoffrey was Isaac's "personal enemy.,,15

Geoffrey served as Bernard's secretary and was opposed to Joachim ofFiore (ca.

1135-1202) and Gilbert de la Poree (1070-1154). Geoffrey opposed, according to Raciti, the speculation of Isaac, in particular Isaac's use of Plato and Aristotle. Bernard himself dismissed Plato and Aristotle, as well as their followers, calling them "vain inquisitors"

(vani rectius).16 Raciti also argues that as the leader ofthe anti-Becket party among the

Cistercians, Geoffrey was a key player in the campaign to depose Isaac and force him into exile on Re. Geoffrey's campaign, as Raciti puts it, was "to punish the holy and brilliant Isaac because of his political standpoint."l?

When Henry nominated his friend and then chancellor, Becket, to the position of

Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, he hardly expected the tumultuous events that would lead to Becket's murder on 29 December 1170. Far from being a compliant appointee,

Becket resisted Henry's encroachments on the rights of the church. By the middle of

1163, Becket and Henry clashed over the king's responsibilities and political reach, in

13 Franz Bliemetzrieder initially identified the island as Re; see the following chapter. 14 Raciti, "Isaac de [,Etoile," 137. 15 Ibid., 32. 16 In Die Pentecostis 3.3. Sancti Bernardi opera, eds. Jean Leclercq et al. (Rome: Editiones Cistercienses, 1955-77. 8 vols.), 5: 173. (HereafterSBO.) 17 Raciti, "Isaac de [,Etoile," 34. 9

particular the issue of so-called "criminous clerks," i.e., clerics accused of serious crimes.

Henry insisted that such cases were subject to civil law and, therefore, civil courts.

According to Herbert of Bosham's Vita (1184-86), Becket argued that the clergy

"because oftheir orders and distinctive office have Christ alone as their king" and are

therefore "set apart from the nations ofmen.,,18 Becket continued that since clerics are

not under secular kings, but rather the King ofHeaven (rex caelestis) as well as a

spiritual law and jurisdiction, they ought to be ruled according to their own law. 19 The

normal punishment ofmutilation was further deemed inappropriate for clergy since it

would deform the image of God. It was sufficient that a priest should be deprived ofhis

orders and status as clergy. A priest could only be subject to the civil courts ifhe

committe. db' a su sequent cnme. 20

The issue, however, was hardly cut and dried. W. L. Warren reports that "(i)n his

firm rebuttal ofthe king's proposal Becket was assuming that canon law was much

clearer on the subject than was warranted.,,21 Ever since the fractious reign of Stephen

(1135-54), "there had occurred a considerable and unplanned expansion in the fields of

ecclesiastical government and jurisdiction. The old framework had been shaken and was

threatened with demolition.,,22

The bishops sided with Becket. "The remarkable, and decisive, fact, however,

was that the rest of the bishops were apparently unanimous in support ofBecket on this

18 Materialsfor the History ofThomas Becket, Archbishop ofCanterbury (London: Longman, 1875-85. 7 vols.), 3: 268. (Hereafter Materials.) 19 Ibid., 269. 20 Ibid., 271. See also 4: 201-5; Charles Duggan, "The Becket Dispute and Criminous Clerks," Bulletin ofthe Institute ofHistorical Research 35 (1962): 1-31. 21 Wilfred Lewis Warren, Henry II (Berkeley, Ca.: University of California Press, 1973),468. 22 Frank Barlow, Thomas Becket (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986),91. 10 issue," Warren continues. "They, it seems, were at least hoping he was right.,,23 Henry, however, declared the bishops had formed a conspiracy and after he questioned each bishop personally, he stormed out ofthe meeting-the Council ofWestminster, early

October 1163-and left for London the next day without speaking to Becket or any of the bishops.

Round one went to Becket. Henry was down but far from out. Not long after the council, Bellesmains wrote to Becket and mentioned that "as far as human aid is concerned, you should not expect from the Curia anything that might offend the king.,,24

Pope Alexander III, exiled in France at this time, was trying desperately to maintain the support of Henry and Louis VII ofFrance against Frederick I Barbarossa. Bellesmains tells Becket, however, that he is going to Pontigny "to recommend both your intentions and my own to the prayers ofthe brethren.,,25

It was not until early 1164 that Henry counterattacked. At the Council of

Clarendon in mid-January 1164, Henry defined royal and ecclesiastical rights as they had existed under Henry 1. Henry affirmed, inter alia, that no one could be excommunicated without royal consent and that clergy accused of crimes were to be handed over to the ecclesiastical courts after being interrogated by royal officials. Accused clergy would then be tried in the presence of a royal judge and, if found guilty, turned over to the royal courts for sentencing and punishment. The latter, as Becket well knew, included mutilation as well as execution.

23 Warren, Henry II, 468. 24 Materials 5: 56; ET: The Correspondence ofThomas Becket, Archbishop ofCanterbury, 1162­ 1170, ed. and trans. Anne 1. Duggan (Oxford: Clarendon, 2000. 2 vols.), 1: 45. (Hereafter Correspondence. ) 25 Materials 5: 57; ET: Correspondence 1: 47. 11

Frank Barlow sums up the issues at stake in this third clause ofthe Constitutions of Clarendon:

There are here two threats to clerical immunity. There was to be no automatic release ofthe clerk to the church christian; and, as we know from later practice, on some charges, for example breach of forest laws, the clerk would be tried and punished in the royal court. But, more important, a procedure was envisaged which circumvented clerical immunity. The guilty clerk was to be degraded and then punished as a layman.26

Becket was furious, arguing that the Constitutions amounted to double trial or punishment for an accused priest. He agreed initially with the Constitutions but quickly did a volte face, refusing even to affix his seal to the document.27 Both Becket and Henry had reached their respective points of no return. On 14 October 1164, Becket left for

France where he would remain for six years.

Following a brief rapprochement between Becket and Henry at Freteval on 22

July 1170, Becket returned to his see. The reconciliation between king and archbishop proved to be short lived. The tension between Becket and Henry returned as before. By

Christmas Day Becket had excommunicated "all violators of the rights of his church and the fomentors of discord in general.,,28 Thus set in motion the chain of events that culminated in Becket's murder in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170.

26 Barlow, Becket, 101-2. 27 Ibid., 105. 28 1bid., 233. 12

E. Isaac's Life and Career

"When a twelfth-century schoolmaster introduced his pupils to the study of a new author he frequently provided them with a short introduction, or accessus," G. R. Evans offers at the beginning ofher study ofAnselm ofCanterbury, Anselm and a New

Generation. "Among other things," she continues, "this explained what was the subject­ matter of the work, what was the author's intention in writing it, what branch of study it belonged to, and what was the utilitas ofprofitableness in writing it.,,29 Jean Leclercq describes that "the accessus is a short history which takes up for each author the following questions: the life of the author, the title ofthe work, the writer's intention, the subject ofthe book, the usefulness ofits contents, and, finally, the question what branch ofphilosophy it belongs to.,,30

Providing an accessus to Isaac, given the dearth of information concerning most ofhis life, is a considerable challenge. "What little is known ofIsaac ofStella," Pauline

Matarasso discusses, "has been gleaned from his own writings and can be set down in a few lines discreetly padded with conjecture.,,3] Nevertheless, as McGinn reports, "The modest information we have about the abbot of Stella helps us fill out something ofthe story of his life, while the rich theology of his surviving sermons and two treatises enable us to locate him in the vibrant world of twelfth-century thought, if not always with

29 G. R. Evans, Anselm and a New Generation (Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press and Oxford University Press, 1980), 1. 30 Jean Leclercq, The Love ofLearning and the Desirefor God: A Study ofMonastic Culture, trans. Catherine Misrahi (New York: Fordham University Press, 1982. 3d ed.), 116. See also E. A. Quain's still valuable essay, "The Medieval Accessus ad Auctores," Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought and Religion 3 (1945): 215-64. 31 Cistercian World,201. 13 biographical precision.,,32 We know from Isaac that he was English,33 although his exact date ofbirth remains elusive.

The scholarly consensus concerning Isaac's date ofbirth is around 1100. Franz

Bliemetzrieder only goes so far as to state that Isaac was born at the beginning ofthe 34 twelfth century in England. Bliemetzrieder further posits Isaac's birth into a noble or wealthy family on the basis ofSermon 27.35 Raciti concurs: "He was undoubtedly from a noble family. Doesn't he acknowledge that an extremely talkative demon disturbed him during lectio divina by suggesting to him daydreams in connection with his good manners, his lineage, his natural charm, his distinction?,,36

Jeanette Debray-Mulatier argues for a later date of Isaac's birth, between 1110 and 1120. "He was undoubtedly born at the beginning ofthe twelfth century, between

1110 and 1120," she writes. "We do not have any precise data that allows us to establish with certainty the date ofhis birth.,,37 Debray-Mulatier, however, objects to

Bliemetzrieder's speculation concerning Isaac's apparently noble or wealthy background.38 She refers to Isaac's remarks in Sermon 27: "We who in the world appeared to be something, in the assembly of our brothers, in order to be able to become something, we are reduced to nothing.,,39 Debray-Mulatier continues: "I believe Isaac is

32 Selected Works, 171. 33 De officio missae. "Would that I were not English, or rather that here in exile I would never have seen any English!" Utinam aut Anglus nonjUissem, aut, ubi exsulo, Anglos nunquam vidissem! PL 194: 1896B. 34 Bliemetzrieder, "Isaak von Stella: Beitrage zur Lebensbeschreibung," Jahrbuch der Philosophie und spekulativen Theologie 15 (1904): 22-3. 35 Ibid., 3; see the following chapter. 36 DS7:2012. Raciti cites Sermon 38.8, SC 207: 310; PL 194: 1819B. 37 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie d'Isaac de Stella," Cfteaux 10 (1959): 179. 38 Ibid., 180, referring to Bliemetzrieder, "Isaak von Stella," 3. 39 Sermon 27.2. Qui in mundo aliquidvidebamur, in congregatione quoquefratrum nonnihil reputati, ut vere aliquidfore possimus, ecce ad nihilum redacti sumus. SC 207: 142; PL 194: 1778B. 14 thinking here not ofhis secular life, but ofhis traditional role of abbot of Stella, that it did not leave him to be anything more than but a simple monk on the island ofRe.,,40

Raciti argued initially for a date ofbirth ofaround 1100. Arguing against

Debray-Mulatier, Raciti counters: "It is thus necessary to anticipate the birth ofIsaac around 1100, instead of 1110-1120, as it is commonly accepted.,,41 Raciti would, however, modify his view in this regard. In his article on Isaac in Dictionnaire de spiritualite, Raciti writes: "One can place Isaac's arrival in France around 1130, and thus conjecture that he was born about 1105-1120."42

Salet, in his introduction to the first critically-edited volume of Isaac's sermons in

Sources chretiennes, reports: "Isaac was certainly born in England," adding that "one can place his birth around the year 1100."43 McGinn initially tilted toward Salet and Raciti as well when he wrote in his study, The Golden Chain: A Study in the Theological

Anthropology ofIsaac ofStella: "On the basis ofhis becoming Abbot of Stella in 1147 after what must have been more than a few years in the Schools and as a simple monk, it is possible to conjecture that he was born early in the twelfth century, probably closer to

1100 as argued by Raciti and Salet, than the 1100-1120 ofDebray-Mulatier.,,44 In time

McGinn would further refine his view, arguing for a date ofbirth "sometime not long

40 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 180. 41 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 303n.70. Necessary, that is, since Raciti believes Isaac studied at the Paraclete when Abelard taught there, i.e., 1122-25. 42 DS7: 2012. 43 SC 130: 12. 44 Bernard McGinn, The Golden Chain: A Study o/the Theological Anthropology 0/Isaac o/Stella (CS 15; Washington, D.C.: Cistercian Publications, 1972),7. 15 after 1100"45 and most recently: "We can surmise that Isaac was born ca. 1110, and that he came to France as a young cleric probably in the late 1120s.,,46

Given the paucity ofrecords at our disposal we are left with much conjecture.

Isaac's exact date ofbirth eludes us. So, too, do the schools where he studied. While

Isaac does refer to his experience in the schools in Sermon 48, he provides too little information adequately to determine where he studied and with whom.

Debray-Mulatier argues that Isaac studied at Chartres. She bases this on the philosophical bent ofhis theology as evinced in his writings. Indeed, Isaac offers at least a brief autobiographical glimpse of his affinity with Plato, to whom Isaac refers to as

"that great pagan theologian (magnus ille gentium theo[ogus).,,47 According to Debray-

Mulatier, Chartres was the likely candidate for Isaac's intellectual formation. "This assumption would make it possible to understand how," she goes on to relate, "although having given up philosophy, Isaac nevertheless keeps a philosophical spirit and enough independence not to disavow what he learned from Plato, Aristotle, and John Scotus when he considers their theories the best.,,48

Raciti offers a more specific and elaborate argument. He focuses on internal evidence in Sermon 48, a sermon oftremendous importance to Raciti as a source for

Isaac's biography. In the first chapter ofhis important article ("Les maitres d'Isaac"),

45 Sermons, xiii. 46 The Selected Works ofIsaac ofStella: A Cistercian Voice from the Twelfth Century, ed. and trans. Daniel Deme (Aldershot, Hants, England, and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2007), 171. 47 Sermon 24.6. SC 207: 102; PL 194: 1769C. In the Metalogicon, John of Salisbury states that Aristotle "merited the title ofphilosopher before all others" (4.7). McGinn writes: "(1)t is remarkable for a Cistercian abbot, an official in an order generally not noted for its sympathy to pagan philosophy, to pick up on the language ofPlato theologus and to express it so directly. Bernard of Clairvaux makes several disparaging references to Plato and Aristotle, dismissing them and their followers with the comment, 'They call themselves philosophers, but we more correctly term them vain inquisitors' [quoting In Die Pentecostis 3.3]. But Isaac of Stella was not an ordinary abbot and his witness shows us that there was no monolithic attitude among the Cistercians toward the usefulness ofphilosophy." Selected Works, 167-8. 48 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 182. 16

Raciti argues that Isaac's crucial Sermon 48, entitledysaac abbatis stele apologia in some manuscripts, contains allusions to Peter Abelard (1079-1142) and Gilbert of

Poitiers (1070-1154). Although I shall establish the reasons why Raciti ascribes such importance to Sermon 48 in the following chapter, brief mention must be made here as it relates to Isaac's biography.

Isaac begins his sermon by complaining ofhis listeners' inattention. He then refers to the source oftheir inattention, namely, Isaac's conscious change from his previous, more speculative manner ofpreaching to a simpler one. Isaac explains this change by referring to the controversies caused by certain anonymous figures he describes as being "men ofremarkable talent and extraordinary experience" (spectabilis ingenii homines et exercitationis mirae).49 "So therefore these became my teachers,"

Isaac reports, "because the world became their follower.,,5o

I discuss in detail the reasons for Isaac's change in his manner ofpreaching-in particular Raciti's thesis and my critique-in the following chapter. For now it is enough to detail Raciti's determination ofthe schools at which Isaac studied. According to

Raciti, Isaac is referring to Abelard and Gilbert as chief among the "men ofremarkable talent and extraordinary expertise.,,51 Raciti based his argument on textual parallels between Isaac's remarks at the beginning ofSermon 48 and contemporary descriptions of

Abelard and Gilbert, citing the works of John of Salisbury (ca. 1115-80), Peter the

49 Sermon 48.5. SC 339: 156; PL 194: 1853D. 50 Sermon 48.6. Hos igitur secuti sumus, quia eos sequebatur mundus. SC 339: 156; PL 194 : 1854A. 51 Raciti, "Isaac de I'Etoile," 292-6. 17

Venerable (1092/94-1156), Geoffrey ofAuxerre, Lorent of Poitiers, Ademar of 81. Ruf, and Abelard himself. 52

Raciti also argues on the basis ofAbelard and Gilbert being the most important teachers at the time Isaac would have been a student.53 Lastly, he argues that the controversial topics raised by the students of Abelard and Gilbert in the latter half of the twelfth century were part and parcel ofthe tense times during which Isaac delivered

Sermon 48.

Raciti speculates that Isaac initially studied with Abelard at the Oratory of the

Paraclete in Ferreux-Quincey, France, between 1122 and 1125, making Isaac one ofthe first students to study at the new monastery.54 "It is probable that Isaac would have heard

Abelard when he taught at the Paraclete, i.e., between 1122 and 1125," Raciti argues.

"What leads us to believe this is the explicit allusion that Isaac makes from this period of

Abelard's life and in the Introductio, which Abelard composed precisely at the

Paraclete.,,55

Isaac followed this initial period of study with a lengthy stay at Chartres from

1125 to 1142, where he studied with Gilbert as well as Thierry of Chartres (ca. 1100-ca.

1155) and William of Conches (ca. 1080-ca. 1154).56 Isaac followed Gilbert to Poitiers in 1142 when the latter was consecrated bishop ofthat city. 57 "It is certain," Raciti

52 Raciti cites the following works: John of Salisbury, Historia Pontificalis; Peter the Venerable, Epistola 1; Geoffrey of Auxerre, S. Bernardi vita Prima; Lorent of Poitiers, Elogefunebre de Gilbert; Peter Abelard, Historia Calamitatum, Epistola 13, and Apologia seu fidei confessio. The text from Ademar of St. Rufis from a ms. contained in Vat. Lat. 561, folio 175. Ibid., 293-6. 53 Ibid., 294. 54 Ibid., 303. Abelard founded the Paraclete following his departure from the Abbey of St.-Denis ca. 1121. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid., 304. 57 Ibid. 18 reports, "that (Isaac) taught at Poitiers, at the cathedral school, but for only a brief time.,,58

Raciti later agued in favor of Chartres as well as Paris. He refers to Isaac's

"remarkable literary, philosophical, and theological formation."

His masters, described as monks, were great and brilliant...their teaching, very personal and of an innovation that caused the admiration of crowds of students, was daring-even dangerous-but certainly not heretical, as someone seems to have believed. These indications direct us without difficulty toward the schools of Chartres and Paris. One thinks ofGilbert, Abelard, and William of Conches. Certain of Isaac's doctrinal positions seem also to reveal the influence of Thierry of Chartres and Hugh of St. 59 Victor.

Salet accepts the basic outline and chronology of Raciti but was more cautious than the latter and emphasized the conjectural nature of his findings. 6o According to

Sa1et, Isaac studied at Paris, Laon or Chartres, tilting in the direction of Chartres. "One can conjecture that (Isaac) was a disciple of Abelard at the Paraclete and that he followed, at Chartres, the courses of Gilbert of Porree and other masters, like Thierry and William of Conches. About 1138, we find at Chartres Thomas Becket and John of Salisbury:

Isaac could have known them then.,,61

McGinn argues "from the similarity of (Isaac's) views with those ofthe noted

Masters ofthe generation of roughly 1120-1150 to reach some approximate conclusions.,,62 McGinn reports that Isaac's thought demonstrates "the most striking affinities" with Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141), who taught at Mt. St. Genevieve in Paris

58 Ibid., 305. N.b.: Raciti's opinion that Isaac "certainly" taught at Poitiers is in reality wholly speculative. 59 DS 7: 2012. 60 SC 130: 10-2. 61 Ibid., 13-4. 62 McGinn, Golden Chain, 8. 19 ca. 1120-41 63 ; Thierry ofChartres, who taught at the School ofChartres until ca. 1135 followed by Paris and then returning to Chartres as chancellor in the 1140s; and William ofConches, who taught at Chartres until ca. 1144.

In the end, McGinn determines that "it seems safe to say" that Isaac most likely studied at Paris and Chartres in the late 1120s and 1130s. McGinn nevertheless reports that "to attempt any further chronology on this part ofhis career, however, seems to go beyond the bounds ofa sober attempt to deal with the evidence at our disposal.,,64 In his introduction to McCaffrey's English translation of a collection ofIsaac's sermons,

Sermons on the Christian Year, McGinn refined his thesis and stated that "we shall not be far wrong ifwe place (Isaac's) arrival in France about 1130.,,65

It is unknown precisely where and when Isaac studied, nor can we determine with whom. Commenting on Raciti's exact chronology, McGinn determines that "there is no real warrant in any documentary source for such precise identifications, which are therefore scarcely legitimate.,,66 McGinn continues:

In conclusion, it seems safe to say that Isaac studied in France in the late 1120's and 1130's, and that he most likely was at Paris and possibly Chartres (after all, it was the thing to do for the bright young student, and these were the places to go). To attempt any further particular chronology of this part ofhis career, however, seems to go beyond the bounds ofa sober attempt to deal with the evidence at our disposal.67

63 See also Jean Chatillon, "De Guillaume de Champeaux aThomas Gallus: Chronique litteraire et doctrinale de l'Ecole de Saint-Victor," Revue de Moyen Age Latin 8 (1952): 139-62,247-72. 64 McGinn, Golden Chain, 10. 65 Sermons, xiii. 66 McGinn, Golden Chain, 9. 67 Ibid., 10. 20

Elias Dietz likewise reports: "Attempts have been made to ascertain from internal evidence which masters he studied under and when, but thus far no documentary evidence has been found to substantiate the various hypotheses.,,68

The surest and most reasonable conclusion, given the sparse nature ofthe evidence that is available as well as the paucity of information Isaac himselfprovides, is that Isaac studied in France at some point in the latter half ofthe 1120s. McGinn revisited the issue most recently in his essay, "Isaac of Stella in Context," in Daniel

Deme's collection ofIsaac's sermons.69 "While we cannot reconstruct Isaac's academic career with precision, he must have spent some years in Paris, the center of theological learning." McGinn added:

A peripatetic student could easily move between Paris and Chartres, as well as further afield to educational centers such as Laon and Orleans. The extent to which Isaac may have actually studied with Peter Abelard, Hugh of St. Victor, or the masters associated with Chartres, such as Thierry of Chartres and William of Conches, cannot be determined; but he was certainly quite familiar with their teaching.7o

While it cannot be determined precisely at which schools and with which masters

Isaac studied, his period of study was most likely at least a decade. We know from the

Metalogicon (1159) of John of Salisbury, Isaac's friend, the kind of life the students of nascent twelfth-century universities lived. Their life was an itinerant one, as McGinn suggested, wandering from master to master, studying various subjects and making connections. John himself wandered from master to master to learn as well as to make connections: "When, still but a youth, I first journeyed to Gaul for the sake of study, in

68 Elias Dietz, "When Exile is Home: The Biography ofIsaac of Stella," CSQ 41 (2006): 144. See also Dietz, "Conversion in the Sermons ofIsaac of Stella," CSQ 37 (2002): 229-59. 69 See note 46, supra. 70 Ibid., 172. 21

the year following the death ofthe illustrious King ofthe English, Henry, 'the Lion of

Justice,' I betook myself to the Peripatetic ofPallet, who was then teaching at Mont Ste.

Genevieve.,,71 John here refers to Henry I (d. 1 December 1135), which places him in

France in 1136. John, therefore, arrived in France at about the same time Isaac did.

John's experience as a young student as well as the Metalogicon overall is

instructive as it provides an itinerary similar to Isaac's, "a picture of how young clerics,

eager for learning that would lead to ecclesiastical preferment (and sometimes just eager

for learning), wandered from master to master to gain knowledge and make contacts."n

John wrote the Metalogicon as a defense ofthe study oflogic, grammar and rhetoric

against the charges of the pseudonymous Cornificius and his followers. There likely was

not an individual named Cornificius. John was rather using the name of Virgil's

detractor and opponent to personify the arguments ofthose who threatened liberal

education.73 "The threats," writes Stephen C. Fermolo, "came from those in the schools

who were expressly concerned about their own careers."

According to John, these men were not only refusing to take the time necessary to study the trivium but also justifying their actions with claims that were both false and dangerous. Their essential argument was that since the logical arts do no more than teach the rule of speech, and speech is a natural faculty, there is no reason to study them. For John, much more was at stake than the trivium's importance in the arts curriculum. Even ifused merely as an excuse by scholars to shorten their course ofstudies for more practical reasons, the arguments had to be taken seriously and refuted thoroughly because oftheir serious social repercussions.74

71 Metalogicon 2.10; ET: The Metalogicon ofJohn ofSalisbury: A Twelfth-Century Defense ofthe Verbal andLogical Arts ofthe Trivium, trans.Daniel McGarry (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1955),95. 72 Selected Works, 171. 73 See Heinrich Fichtenau, Heretics and Scholars in the High Middle Ages, 1000-1200, trans. Denise A. Kaiser (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998),229-66. 74 Stephen C. Ferruolo, The Origins ofthe University: The Schools ofParis and their Critics (Stanford, Ca.: Stanford University Press, 1985), 141. 22

The Metalogicon was John's attempt to provide and outline for integrating

Aristotle's entire Organon into the liberal arts curriculum. John spends much of his time in the Metalogicon criticizing those masters who resisted the adoption ofthe newly discovered works of Aristotle and still taught the old logic (logica vetus) which consisted almost entirely of the works of Boethius. In addition to Porphry's Isagoge and

Aristotle's Categories and De Interpretatione (as translated and glossed by Boethius), there were four of Boethius' own works: De Syllogismo Categorico, De Syllogismo

Hypothetico, De Divisione, and De Differentiis Topicis. John reports:

What we have so far said has been directed against Comificius. Against those who, in their conservatism, exclude the more efficacious books of Aristotle, and content themselves almost exclusively with Boethius, much could also be said. There is, however, no point. The inadequacy of the knowledge ofthose who have consumed all their time and energies studying Boethius, with the result that they hardly know anything, is so universally apparent that it excites compassion.75

The logical curriculum John describes in the Metalogicon, however, includes only

Aristotle and Porphyry. John criticizes the tradition of extensive commentary on these texts as harmful and providing occasions for self-aggrandizement on the part ofthe masters who wrote them (2.16). John had read the Prior and Posterior Analytics but does not know quite what to make ofthem. He finds the former overly complex and claims that the same material is covered elsewhere (4.2), whereas the latter is better suited to the study of geometry because of its focus on demonstration (4.6). Aristotle's Sophistical

Refutations should be used as practice exercises for younger students (4.22).

John focuses on Aristotle's Topics in particular. He provides an introduction, commentary and apology for the work, in which John finds the voice ofAristotle

75 Metalogicon 4.27. ET: McGarry, 243. 23

confirming his own conclusions (3.5-10). The Topics teach us how to begin with

probable principles and form convincing arguments. This is part and parcel ofthe

method of the wise man because it is something he can put into practice with good effect

and ought, therefore, to be the curriculum ofthe schools.76

A final caveat concerning the lack ofprecision when it comes to the biographical

detail on where and with whom Isaac studied must be given. There is no universal

consensus among scholars concerning the existence of "schools" per se. For example,

there is Valerie I. J. Flint's assessment that a "School of Laon" never existed.77 More

pertinent to Isaac is Southern's earlier essay, "Humanism and the School of Chartres," in

which he disputed the existence of a "School of Chartres" as well as the importance of

figures such as Thierry of Chartres who may have been associated with the schoo1. 78

While many ofthe figures associated with Chartres also taught at Paris, scholars have

identified a distinctly Platonizing strand of theology (broadly speaking) emanating from

Chartres in the latter half ofthe twelfth century. There is no consensus as to the

significance ofthis theological strand-and I hesitate to go so far as to call it a

"movement"-but few scholars today accept Southern's views.79

76 See Marie-Dominique Chenu, Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, ed. and trans. Jerome Taylor and Lester K. Little (Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 37; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997), 49-98, 270-309; G. R. Evans, Old Arts and New Theology: The Beginnings ofTheology as an Academic Discipline (Oxford and New York: Clarendon and Oxford University Press, 1980). 77 Valerie 1. 1. Flint, "The 'School of Laon': A Reconsideration," RTAM 43 (1976): 89-110. 78 R. W. Southern, Medieval Humanism and Other Studies (Oxford: Blackwell, 1970),61-85. Southern revisited the issue in Platonism, Scholastic Method and the School ofChartres (Stenton Lecture 1978; Reading: University of Reading Press, 1979); and in his essay, "The School of Paris and the School of Chartres," in Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelfth Century, ed. Robert L. Benson and Giles Constable (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982), 113-37. For background and analysis on Flint's and Southern's broadsides against Laon and Chartres, respectively, see Marcia L. Colish's essay, "Another Look at the School of Laon," in Studies in Scholasticism (Aldershot, Hants, England, and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2006), 7-22. 79 See, e.g., Winthrop Wetherbee, "Philosophy, cosmology, and the twelfth-century Renaissance"; Tullio Gregory, "The Platonic inheritance"; and Peter Dronke, "Thierry of Chartres," in A History of 24

It is unnecessary to linger too long over speculative chronologies and other conjecture concerning Isaac's early years and education. Scholars cannot overcome a dearth of evidence by marshalling a host of citations from medieval writers, as Raciti so impressively does, since this does not truly strengthen what was dubious from the beginning.

In the face of various lacunae and a general lack of certain knowledge on Isaac's early, formative years, there comes a point where you can go no further than beyond that which can be determined reasonably well. For the early life of Isaac-indeed, for the former half-we have little more than a skeleton. Little flesh can be attached to those bones, at least not if a scholar wishes to keep from straying too far into the field of conjecture for which ultimately there is negligible support.

It is unclear exactly when and where Isaac entered monastic life. Bliemetzrieder argued that Isaac became a monk at Citeaux.80 Debray-Mulatier argued similarly, namely, that Isaac became a monk at Citeaux itselfbut was transferred subsequently to

Stella. "Isaac, like many others, felt attracted: he gave up his studies and became a monk at the same convent of Citeaux.,,81 Isaac entered "at an impresice date, but certainly before 1147.,,82 According to Debray-Mulatier, Isaac's novitiate was a fairly long one.

She bases this on Isaac's remark in Sermon 50, where he refers to Christ's obedience to the Mother of God and St. Joseph (Lk 2:51) and to the Father as well (Matt 17:5; cf.

3:17).83

Twelfth-Century Western Philosophy, ed. Peter Dronke (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 21-53,54-80 and 358-85, respectively. 80 Bliemetzrieder, "Isaak von Stella," 6, 7 and 22. 8\ Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 184. 82 Ibid., 185. 83 Ibid., 184-5; see SC 339: 186; PL 194: 1859D. 25

Raciti places the location ofIsaac's entry into monastic life not at Citeaux, but rather Pontigny in 1145.84 Raciti refines this in his Dictionnaire de spiritualite article by arguing that Isaac's entry at Pontigny followed a briefperiod ofteaching and could not have occurred before 1143. "But since," as McGinn points out, "this is based upon the unlikely supposition of a teaching career at Poitiers when the famous Gilbert became

Bishop there in 1142, this seems an unwarranted conjecture.,,85

Salet, breaking with both the options of Citeaux and Pontigny, argues for Stella itself as the place where Isaac entered into monastic life. While Salet does not argue for a lengthy novitiate as does Debray-Mulatier, he does state that Isaac's period as a monk prior to being elevated to the position of abbot was a long one. "If, as is probable, Isaac lived for several years as a religious before becoming abbot, it should be concluded that he entered the monastery (at Stella) before its affiliation with the order of Citeaux.,,86

McGinn argued initially for Stella as a possible location for Isaac's entry into monastic life but is uncertain ofthe date. Concerning the latter, he asserts: "We have no secure information concerning the date.,,87 McGinn becomes slightly more definitive in later years and tilts more toward Salet's view, writing that "(s)ometime not long after

1140, the English scholar entered the monastic life, most likely at the great Cistercian house ofPontigny in the diocese ofAuxerre.,,88

McGinn recently has become agnostic concerning the date. "Information about the date ofIsaac's entry into the monastic life is lacking," he relates. "The only secure date we have is that ofhis becoming abbot of Stella, a small house not far from Poitiers,

84 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 306. 85 McGinn, Golden Chain, 11. 86 SC 130: 15. 87 McGinn, Golden Chain, 11. 88 Sermons, xiii. 26 in 1147.,,89 McGinn continues to argue for Stella as the place ofIsaac's entrance: "Since

Stella was a dependency of the great abbey of Pontigny, one of the four daughter houses ofClteaux, Isaac most likely joined the Cistercians at that monastery.,,90

A lengthy period as a monk before becoming abbot seems most likely for McGinn as well. "Despite his natural talents," he writes, "Isaac would probably have had to have been a monk for some years before ascending to the role of abbot, so he may have converted around the same time that Bernard preached his noted sermon.,,91

This sermon, Bernard's Sermon on Conversion to the Clergy (De conversione, ad clericos), was delivered in Paris sometime between Lent 1139 and early 1140.92 It provides a picture ofwhat a "conversion" to or decision to embrace the monastic life looked like in the mid-twelfth century. In the Vita Prima we read that "a great number of the clerics gathered together because they had been asking him to preach the word ofGod to them. Suddenly, three ofthem, moved by compunction and being converted from vain studies to the worship oftrue wisdom renounced the world and became disciples ofthe servant of God (et converse ab inanibus studiis ad verae sapientiae cultum, abrenuntiantes saeculo, et Deifamulo adhaerentes).,,93

We are, however, on surer ground when it comes to Isaac's becoming abbot of

Stella. According to Debray-Mulatier: "Toward the end of 1147 or the beginning of

1148, Isaac left Citeaux for western France. Succeeding the abbot Bernard, he became abbot of Stella in the diocese of Poitiers. The abbey only recently became attached to the

89 Selected Works,173. 90 Ibid. 91 Ibid. 92 SBO 4: 62n.1. 93 PL 185: 327B; ET: Bernard ofClairvaux: Sermons on Conversion, trans. Marie-Bernard Said (CF 25; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1981), 13. 27 order ofCiteaux.,,94 The abbey was, indeed, not originally Cistercian. Its founder, like

Robert of Molesme, left a monastery not ready for reform. Leaving Preuilly and traveling to the southwest, Isembaud founded the abbey in 1124.

Bernard succeeded Isembaud as abbot in 1140, following the latter's death. It is not until the middle of the decade that Stella begins to attract our attention. Bernard petitioned Pope Eugene III to have the monastery incorporated into the growing

Cistercian reform in 1145. According to Debray-Mu1atier, the first Cistercian monks entered Stella on 25 July 1145.95 She based her argument on the work ofLeopold

Janauschek, however, whose work was based on documents no longer extant.96

In any case, Eugene III granted Bernard's request on 1 February 1147 and reiterates his decision on 28 October 1147 when Isaac succeeds Bernard as abbot of

Stella.97 We cannot say with precision, however, that Isaac became abbot ofStella in

1147. We can only say that he was already abbot by 1147; how long before that he served as abbot we cannot say-the documents at our disposal do not allow us to go any further.

The details and date surrounding Isaac's death are elusive. "The life ofIsaac of

Stella closes with as much mystery as it began," as McGinn observes.98 By 1169 Stella has a new abbot, Vasi1ius. 99 Debray-Mu1atier dates the death ofIsaac to between 1167

94 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 185. 95 Ibid. 96 Leopold Janauschek, Originum Cisterciensiam (Vienna: Alfred HOlder, 1877). 97 See Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 306n.90; McGinn, Golden Chain, 11-2; Dictionnaire d'histoire et de geographie ecclesiastiques 15: 1287. 98 McGinn, Golden Chain, 22. 99 Dictionnaire d'histoire et de geographie ecclesiastiques 15: 1288. The tradition ofIsaac's death in 1169 emerges in the eighteenth century with Casimir Oudin's Commentarium de scriptoribus ecclesiasticus (Leipzig: M. G. Weidmanni, 1722. 3 vols.), 2: 1486. 28 and 1169. 100 Raciti speculates that monastic life and the exile on R6 were especially difficult for Isaac and took its toll on his health. Isaac was "now old and tired and would not have survived a long time."lol

Raciti initially argued that Isaac died on R6 on an unknown date and was buried in an unknown grave. 102 He would later modify his view, arguing for a date of death of

1178.103 Likewise McGinn, who initially was hesitant to place an exact date on Isaac's death: "In his death, as in his life, Isaac of Stella continues to elude while always managing to intrigue.,,104 McGinn would later revise his view and argue, like Raciti, that

Isaac died around 1178. 105

While Isaac refers to Bernard as sanctus Bernardus in Sermon 52, it is untenable to argue as Raciti does that Isaac must have been alive after 1174, the date ofBernard's canonization by Pope Alexander III. 106 Raciti's argument is untenable because it is based on an understanding of canonization procedures that are anachronistic. During this time it was still possible for people to be venerated as saints without papal permission or

lO sanction. ? Moreover, Cistercian literature at this time provides examples ofthe term sanctus being applied to individuals who have not yet been canonized. Bernard himself, for example, refers to Malachy ofArmagh as sanctus in his Vita sancti Malachiae . . 108 episcopi.

100 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 189. 101 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 211. 102 Ibid., 212. 103 DS 7: 2013. 104 McGinn, Golden Chain, 23. 105 Selected Works, 175. 106 Sermon 52.15. See Raciti's remarks in SC 339: 316-9. 107 See Eric W. Kemp, Canonization and Authority in the Western Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1948), 82-106. 108 SBa 3: 309. 29

The efforts of Raymond Milcamps and Anselm Hoste have been invaluable in the study of the editions and manuscripts of Isaac's works. 109 Leclercq's discovery of a new sermon in 1964 as well as Garda's more recent discovery of archival material demonstrates that scholars can continue to hope that ever newer texts will continue to corne to light. I 10 For Isaac's 55 sermons there are only eight extant manuscripts but not one of them provides a complete series. II I Jacques-Paul Migne reprinted the 1662 edition ofIsaac's sermons by Bertrand Tissier, Bibliotheca Patrum Cisterciensium, in

Patrologia Latina 194.

Two additional works of Isaac need to be mentioned. One is the Epistola de anima, which Isaac addressed to Aicher of Clairvaux in, according to Debray-Mulatier,

1162. 112 The other, and by far Isaac's most popular work if the manuscript evidence is any indication, is De officio missae, an allegorical interpretation of the liturgy he addressed to Bellesmains in 1167. 113 For both ofthese works, Migne again used Tissier's edition for PL 194. 114

109 Raymond Milcamps, "Bibliographie d'lsaac de l'Etoile," COCR 20 (1958): 175-86; Anselm Hoste, "Introduction au texte Latin," in SC 130: 69-83. 110 Leclercq, "Nouveau sermon d'lsaac de l'Etoile," Revue d'ascetique et de la mystique 40 (1964): 277-88; Garda, "Du nouveau sur Isaac de l'Etoile," Cfteaux 37 (1986): 8-22. 111 See SC 130: 73-7; see also Milcamps, "Bibliographie," 180-6. McGinn provides a useful summary of Isaac's works in Golden Chain, 24-31. 112 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 188n.65. 113 There are 22 manuscripts extant; see Milcamps, "Bibliographie," 180-2, and McGinn, Golden Chain,30n.129. 114 The Latin text ofthe Epistola de anima is found in PL 194: 1875B-1890A and that ofDe officio missae in PL 194: 1889B-18958. Neither treatise has been critically edited in the Sources chn:tiennes series. For an ET of the Epistola de anima, see Selected Works, 143-57; for an earlier ET, see "The Letter ofIsaac of Stella on the Soul," trans. Bernard McGinn, in Three Treatises on Man: A Cistercian Anthropology (CF 24; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1977), 153-77. For an ET of De officio missae, see Selected Works, 158-64; for an earlier ET, see Chrysogonus Waddell, "Isaac of Stella on the Canon of the Mass," Liturgy o.c.s.o. 11 (1975): 21-75. 30

F. Limitations and Scope

This study's primary argument, that of Isaac's role in the Becket controversy, is

necessarily limited. I intend neither to provide a comprehensive outline of Isaac's

theology nor treat doctrinal topics with which scholars far more capable than I have

dealt. 115 Neither do I intend to treat exhaustively Isaac's predecessors in the Christian

monastic tradition but only to call attention to its most significant figures. This study,

rather, is an examination of an admittedly marginal figure, one who was not among the

elite ofthe twelfth century. But Isaac deserves attention nevertheless since his role and

importance heretofore have either been neglected or overestimated.

The period of time with which I shall be especially concerned is from roughly the

1120s until Isaac's death as well as that of Becket. While the scholarship on Isaac is

limited compared to the greater lights ofthe twelfth century, it continues to grow and

already comprises no small body of literature. I shall thus limit my attention to those

scholars and topics that concern our argument in the most direct and relevant way.

Isaac's affinity with and use of the works of Dionysius the Areopagite, as

tantalizing a subject as it is, must be left to others. Likewise Isaac's anthropology,

Christology and liturgical theology; worthy topics, no doubt, but ones that will have to

wait for another time. As much as I should like to focus on Isaac's antecedents in early

Christian monasticism, this will again have to wait as it does not relate to our topic.

In limiting myself I may perhaps be faulted. Given the amount of literature already devoted to the Cistercians, if not Isaac himself, I feel justified in not devoting my limited space to issues that ultimately are not relevant to my argument. Rather than draw

lIS The following chapter presents a review of the relevant literature on Isaac. 31 a detailed overview of Isaac's life and oeuvre, my initial contribution to the scholarship on Isaac must ofnecessity be a limited one.

Not that this study will ignore historical theology. I address the truly theological or religious content by focusing in particular on the theme of obedience and to what extent the conflict between ecclesiastical and secular powers is reflected in Isaac's sermons. More important for this study is my focus on the goal and purpose of the monastic life as the transformation of the monk himself.

G. Significance and Contribution of Research to Existing Scholarship

Isaac is, to be sure, a minor figure among the twelfth-century Cistercians; he has, however, been overlooked and this has largely been on the basis ofhow scholarship has tended to treat his involvement with (and presumed support of) Becket. I am expanding the work of Garda, Ferruccio Gastaldelli and others; I am, therefore, hardly doing anything new or revolutionary. Nevertheless, I am looking at Isaac and the Becket controversy in a new light and asking questions of my sources that differ substantially from what previous scholars have asked. By paying particular attention to Isaac's close connection to earlier figures in the Christian monastic tradition, I am putting Isaac and his sermons in a context previously overlooked.

If what I have written in the following does affect subsequent scholarship on

Isaac, then it will challenge one of the most widely accepted details oflsaac's biography, namely, that as a strong supporter of Becket he suffered the loss ofhis monastery and died in obscurity on Re. I am studying Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy 32 because I am trying to discover the extent to which Isaac was a participant in order to understand how certain scholars have overestimated his support ofBecket. I wish to set the historical record straight on this point and expand Isaac's biography beyond "a couple ofdates and a few hypotheses.,,1l6

H. Organization of Present Study

In the chapter that follows, I set out the purpose of the literature review and explain how it contributes to our argument. The primary purpose ofthe literature review is to establish the context for my research, in particular what the scholarly literature has stated over the years concerning the nature and extent ofIsaac's relationship with Becket.

A closely related purpose is to offer a critical analysis ofprior and relevant scholarship related to the central questions ofthe dissertation. I then locate my work on Isaac in this chain of scholarly literature, demonstrating where my thesis converges and diverges and how it relates to modem scholarship. In other words, I explain how I place my own work in the chain of scholarship that precedes it.

In Chapter II, I deliver an historical overview ofthe Becket controversy, paying particular attention to the English investiture controversy, the Cistercians' involvement with Becket in general and Isaac's involvement with Becket in particular. I briefly restate the status quaestionis and objective of the dissertation in order to describe my research methods. I also discuss my collection and analytical strategies in order to explain how my research was conducted and give my readers the ability to evaluate my conclusions. In addition, I restate the guiding questions ofthe dissertation. The reasons

116 Cistercian World,201. 33

for my methodology will be described as well, namely, to reevaluate the general

conclusions of modem scholarship on Isaac and suggest a new look at Isaac's

involvement in the Becket controversy.

Chapter III begins with a brief review ofthe reasons for writing the dissertation,

its guiding questions and the research methods that I stated earlier (i.e., Chapter II). I

discuss my research and its outcome in the form of an overview and then continue in

greater and more complex detail. The material from Isaac's sermons and monastic

charters will be kept apart from my actual interpretation, analysis and evaluation. This

will be seen most clearly in sections Band C (presentation and discussion of findings,

respectively). I cite continually the references and scholarly literature to which I referred

in Chapter I to support my analysis and demonstrate its coherence.

In the final chapter I elaborate on this study's contribution to the scholarly

literature on Isaac. I begin by summarizing the essential points of the dissertation I made

in the Introduction and Chapter II, namely, the relevance of the topic and its contribution

to my understanding ofthe topic. The core of this chapter is my articulation of the

implication of my findings, findings that will be grouped according to those related to the

scholarly literature on Isaac, my own research and analysis and future research. I then

discuss the implications ofthe dissertation and its contribution to scholarship. This will

be determined by the guiding questions that have formed the rationale for the study.

I also evaluate and delineate the study's strengths, weaknesses and limitations.

Part and parcel of this will be a retrospective examination of the conceptual framework I presented in Chapter I in the light of the implications of my findings. The recommendations for future research will be based on two implications: what the study 34 did and discovered; what it did not do and did not discover. I report where future research should be performed as well as recommend changes in research methods and conceptual frameworks. I also suggest which ofthese are likely to be most fruitful and why.

1. Summary

When a subject has left so few clues concerning his or her life, it is difficult to present a thorough if not complete biography. Such is the case with Isaac. Interest in his life and works has grown over the past several decades, as demonstrated by a number of articles by European and American scholars. The use made ofIsaac's works, his sermons in particular, by the Roman Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council and more recently evinces this interest and, indeed, usefulness ofhis works for theology.

Nevertheless there is much over which scholars continue to puzzle. The paucity of biographical information in his sermons certainly gives to Isaac an air ofthe "mystery" with which he is often associated.

The matter ofIsaac's involvement in Becket's controversy with Henry, however, is a subject that has attracted sufficient interest among scholars and serves as the basis for this study. Raciti's thesis that Isaac's paid dearly for his support of Becket-the loss of his abbacy and forced exile on the island ofRe--eontinues to be a commonplace in the scholarly literature. Isaac is described in the end as a tragic, lonely figure who died alone and in disgrace in his place of exile. 35

Fortunately for scholars, there is anything but a paucity of information concerning the Becket controversy; the correspondence from Becket alone amounts to a plethora of information to mine. Becket's role and that of Henry are well known and clearly attested.

Isaac's role, however, is less clear. While there is reference to his support of Becket via intercessory prayer, neither Becket's correspondence nor other relevant materials portray

Isaac as a supporter of great significance. Becket undoubtedly had greater allies on which to rely than the abbot of Stella.

What can be stitched together ofthe facts concerning Isaac's life is much in keeping with his times. Isaac made his way to the Continent at some point to study and eventually became a monk in the Cistercian Order. Concerning the latter, there is enough evidence to suggest that Isaac came to France but to cite specific schools and masters is difficult. When and where Isaac became a monk is also elusive. He rose to become the abbot of Stella, where he wrote the 55 sermons and two treatises attributed to him. The information concerning the end of his life, however, is as spare as that ofthe beginning.

This study is necessarily limited in its scope. By focusing specifically on Isaac and the Becket controversy, I have cast my net widely enough to entail engagement with the sources but I have been careful not to describe a thesis that is too far-reaching and all­ encompassing. This ensures, on the one hand, topics for future research that will be reported in the final chapter (i.e., Summary and Concluding Remarks) and, on the other hand, that I shall be able to handle competently a specific topic and body ofliterature.

While no scholar can fill every gap, I do hope I am able to expand our knowledge of Isaac in at least some small sense. The work of Raciti and others, as valuable as it is, 36 needs to be addressed in certain areas. I aim to do just that in this study, as well as lift the cloud ofmystery that has obscured the monk Isaac of Stella. 37

Chapter 1. Literature Review

A. Introduction

Scholarly interest in Isaac is much higher now than in recent years. This renewed attention represents quite a change. Not only did Bouyer describe Isaac as a "great mystery among the Cistercians" but he added: "We know only a few scattered facts about

1 his life. Ofhis works we have only fragments." I?

While Isaac cannot reasonably be faulted for his literary output, the modest biographical information available to scholars no doubt contributed to Isaac's

"mysterious" character. We know enough, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, to devise a rough outline and chronology ofIsaac's life. What is lacking, however, are the details with which to achieve biographical or historical precision.

In this chapter, I establish the plan ofthe following literature review and demonstrate how it contributes to my thesis. I summarize the literature on Isaac before turning to the relevant literature itself in Section D, "Analysis of literature relevant to the problem." The primary purpose for my review is to establish the context for my research, in particular to identify the major scholars on Isaac, what their research has stated over the years concerning Isaac's relationship with Becket and to present a critical analysis of the relevant scholarship related to the central questions of this study.

117 Bouyer, Cistercian Heritage, 161. 38

B. Historical Background ofthe Problem

Modem scholarly interest in Isaac began just over a century ago with

Bliemetzrieder's 1904 article, "Isaak von Stella: Beitrage zur Lebensbeschreibung.,,118

Bliemetzrieder's brief, "Eine unbekannte Schrift Isaaks von Stella," was published in

1908 and documents his discovery ofa previously unknown manuscript ofDe officio missae. 119 He would not return to Isaac until 1932 with "Isaac de Stella: Sa speculation theologique.,,120

Following Bliemetzrieder's early studies, scholarly interest waned for a time.

Interest in Isaac's ecclesiology, however, was an exception. Such interest began as early as Emile Mersch's 1933 study, La theologie du corps mystique du Christ. l2l Henri de

Lubac quotes from Isaac's Sermon 51 in his seminal work, Catholicisme. 122

Catholicisme was not only Lubac's programmatic work. It proved to be the programmatic work for the ressourcement movement in Roman Catholic theology during the mid-twentieth century. 123

118 Bliemetzrieder, "Isaak von Stella: Beitrage zur Lebensbeschreibung," Jahrbuch der Philosophie und spekulativen Theologie 15 (1904): 1-34. 119 Bliemetzrieder, "Eine unbekannte Schrift Isaaks von Stella," Studien und Mitteilungen aud dem Benediktiner und dem Cistercienser-Orden 29 (1908): 433-41. 120 Bliemetzrieder, "Isaac de Stella: Sa speculation theologique," RTAM 6 (1932): 132-59. 121 Emile Mersch, La theologie du corps mystique du Christ: Etudes de theologie historique (Louvain: Museum Lessianum, 1933. 2 vols.). The first thesis on Isaac focused on his ecclesiology as well: Edmund Weinheimer, "The Mystical Body ofChrist According to Isaac ofStella" (S.T.L. thesis, St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md. 1945). 122 Henri de Lubac, Catholicisme: Les aspects sociaux du dogme (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1938). 123 For an overview ofthe figures and issues, see Joseph A. Komonchak, "Theology and Culture at Mid-Century: The Example of Henri de Lubac," TS 51 (1990): 579-602. Three recent books on the Ressourcement movement are well worth mentioning here: Stephen 1. Duffy, The Graced Horizon: Nature and Grace in Modern Catholic Thought (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992); Lawrence Feingold, The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas Aquinas and His Interpreters (Dissertationes 3; Rome: Edizioni Universita della Santa Croce, 2001); John Milbank, The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate Concerning the Supernatural (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 2005). 39

Lubac's work would also become a means by which Isaac came to the attention of scholars. Catholicisme and Lubac's subsequent works, in particular Exegese medievale, undoubtedly brought to the attention ofhis readers at least selections from Isaac's writings. 124 And yet Isaac remained a mystery.

Andre Fracheboud wrote four articles on Isaac during the 1940s and 1950s that explored the influence of Dionysius the Areopagite and Augustine on Isaac's use ofPlato and philosophy in general, Isaac's possible study at the University of Naples and Isaac's use of Scripture, respectively.125 Milcamps' bibliographical essay from 1958 was a pioneering work in the study ofthe various editions and manuscripts of Isaac's works and one that served as the basis for later scholars who turned their attention to the knotty problem ofIsaac's corpus. 126 Jeannette Debray-Mulatier's 1959 article, "Biographie d'Isaac de Stella," was another early attempet-like Bliemetzrieder's-toward a biography of Isaac. 127

The latter half ofthe twentieth century has been kinder to Isaac than the former, in particular the 1960s, during which time nine articles on Isaac were published. Leonard

Gaggero and Robert Javelet began the stream ofarticles with their contributions in 1960, closely followed by Raciti's landmark article from 1961 and 1962.128 Leclercq and

124 Lubac, Exegese medievale: Les Quatres sens de I'Ecriture (Theologie 41, 42 and 59; Paris: Aubier,1959-64. 4 vols). ET: Medieval Exegesis: The Four Senses o/Scripture, trans. Mark Sebanc (Ressourcement. Grand Rapids, Mich., and Edinburgh: Eerdmans and T. & T. Clark, 1998-2009. 3 vols). 125 Andre Fracheboud, "Le Pseudo-Denys I'Areopagite parmi les sources du Cistercien Isaac de l'Etoile," COCR 9 (1947): 328-41; 10 (1948): 19-34; "L'lnfluence de Saint Augustin sur Ie Cistercien Isaac de l'Etoile," COCR II (1949): 1-17,264-72; 12 (1950): 5-16; "Isaac de Stella al'Universite de Naples," COCR 14 (1952):278-81; "Isaac de l'Etoile et l'Ecriture Sainte," COCR 19 (1957): 133-45. 126 Raymond Milcamps, "Bibliographie d'Isaac de l'Etoile," COCR 20 (1958): 175-86. 127 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie d'lsaac de Stella," Citeaux 10 (1959): 178-98. 128 Leonard Gaggero, "Isaac of Stella and the Theology ofRedemption," COCR 22 (1960): 21-36; Robert Javelet, "La vertu dans l'reuvre d'lsaac de l'Etoile," Citeaux 11 (1960): 252-67; Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile et son siecle," Citeaux 12 (1961): 281-306; 13 (1962): 18-34, 133-45,205-16. 40

Robert O'Brien added articles on Isaac's works in 1964 and 1965, respectively.129

Thomas Merton provided an introduction to a proposed collection of Isaac's sermons in

English translation in his 1967 article, "Isaac of Stella: An Introduction to and Selections from his Sermons.,,130 Leclercq's brief article on monastic economicsl3l and Anne

Saword's retrospective appreciation closed a decade that witnessed a considerable increase in the scholarship on Isaac. 132 Perhaps the most important work from this period was the publication of the first volume of the critical edition ofIsaac's sermons, edited by

Hoste and Salet in the Sources chretiennes series in 1967. 133 Isaac, it seemed, was less mysterious as the years went by.

Particular attention must be paid to Bernardo Olivera's 1969 article, "Isaac of

Stella: Prophet ofVatican II," which reflected the post-Conciliar Zeitgeist but also documented Isaac's influence on the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).134 As for the conciliar documents themselves, the Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (21

November 1964) cited Isaac's Sermon 51. 135

The 1970s proved no less productive a decade. In the English-speaking world the works of Bernard McGinn dominated the scene. McGinn produced two articles and the first monograph on Isaac in the early part of the decade, followed by an article on Isaac's

129 Jean Leclercq, "Nouveau sermon d'Isaac de I'Etoile," Revue d'ascetique et de fa mystique 40 (1964): 277-88; Robert O'Brien, "A Commentary of the Canticle of Canticles Attributed to Isaac of Stella," Cfteaux 16 (1965): 226-8. 130 Thomas Merton, "Isaac of Stella: An Introduction to and Selections from his Sermons," Cistercian Studies 2 (1967): 243-51. The proposed collection of sermons, begun by Sisters Penelope and Paul and eventually completed by Hugh McCaffrey, was published as Sermons on the Christian Year, trans. Hugh McCaffrey (CF 11; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1979). The published collection, which contains Sermons 1 through 26, does not contain Merton's introduction. 131 Jean Leclercq, "Isaac of Stella on Monastic Economics," CSQ 4 (1969): 267-74. 132 Anne Saword, "The Eighth Centenary ofIsaac of Stella," CSQ 4 (1969): 243-50. 133 Isaac de L 'Etoile: Sermons 1, ed. Anselm Hoste and Gaston Salet (SC 130; Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1967). 134 Bernardo Olivera, "Isaac of Stella: Prophet of Vatican II," CSQ 4 (1969): 251-66. 135 Lumen Gentium, 64. 41

Christo10gy in 1979.136 Ignacio Aranguren's and Patrick Ryan's articles from 1970, both

treating Isaac's epistemology, added to the growing body of scholarly literature on

Isaac. 137

Raciti, continuing with scholarship that he had initiated a decade before, produced

the biographical entry on Isaac for the Dictionnaire de spiritualite in 1971. 138 The same

year also saw another article on Isaac by Leclercq, "La travail: ascese sociale d'apres

Isaac de l'Etoile.,,139 Moreover, Chrysogonus Waddell published a lengthy article in

1975 on De officio missae, "Isaac of Stella on the Canon of the Mass.,,140

The edition of the Liturgy ofthe Hours produced by the International Commission

on English in the Liturgy in 1975 makes notable use ofIsaac's works. Readings from

Isaac are included for the Saturday ofthe Second Week ofAdvent, the Friday ofthe Fifth

Week ofEaster, the Saturday ofthe Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, and the Friday ofthe

Twenty-third Week of Ordinary time. 141 The highlight ofthe decade may have been the

136 Bernard McGinn, "Theologia in Isaac of Stella," Cfteaux 21 (1970): 219-235; The Golden Chain: A Study in the Theological Anthropology ofIsaac ofStella (CS 15; Washington, D.C.: Cistercian Publications, 1972); "Isaac of Stella on the Divine Nature," Analecta Cisterciensia 29 (1973): 3-56; "Resurrection and Ascension in the Christology ofthe Early Cistercians," Cfteaux 30 (1979):5-22. 137 Ignacio Aranguren, "Isaac of Stella's Humanism," CSQ 5 (1970): 77-90; Patrick Ryan, "Isaac of Stella and Newman on Revelation," CSQ 5 (1970): 370-87. 138 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," DS7: 2011-38. 139 Jean Leclercq, "La travail: ascese sociale d'apres Isaac de l'Etoile," COCR 9 (1971): 159-66. 140 Waddell, Chrysogonus, "Isaac of Stella on the Canon ofthe Mass," Liturgy, o.C.S.O. 11 (1975): 21-75. In addition to the aforementioned articles and monograph, Isaac also featured more or less prominently in the following studies: The Cistercian Spirit: A Symposium in Memory ofThomas Merton, ed. M. Basil Pennington (CS 3; Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1970); Hugh McCaffrey, "Isaac of Stella: A Significant Spokesman for the Sanctity of Bernard ofClairvaux," in Cistercian Ideals and Reality, ed. John R. Sommerfeldt (CS 60; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1978), 199-219; Donkin, R.A. The Cistercians: Studies in the Geography ofMedieval England and Wales (Studies and Texts 38; Toronto: Pontifical Institute ofMediaeval Studies, 1978). 141 The Liturgy ofthe Hours (New York, N.Y.: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. 4 vols.). The readings to which I refer in the text are found in 1: 251,2: 856,3: 195, and 4: 245, respectively. 42 continuing publication ofthe critical edition of Isaac's sennons, which Hoste and Salet edited in the Sources chretiennes series in 1974. 142

A number of articles from the 1980s revisited familiar themes and explored new territory. For the fonner, McCaffrey returned to the topic of Isaac and Dionysius the

Areopagite in his 1982 article, "Apophatic Denis and Abbot Isaac ofStella.,,143 Raciti and Gerard de Martel both continued to unravel the knotty issue ofIsaac's works with their articles, "Pages nouvelles des sennons d'Isaac de l'Etoile dans un manuscrit d'Oxford" and "Le commentaire sur Ie Livre de Ruth du ms. Paris Sainte-Genevieve 45," respectively.144 Kathleen O'Neill likewise contributed to the scholarship on Isaac's epistemology with her 1984 article, "Isaac of Stella on Self-Knowledge.,,145

The crop of scholarship from the 1980s that broke new ground or at least sketched out new directions for research is best seen in Garda's important 1986 article where he takes issue with Raciti, "Du nouveau sur Isaac de l'Etoile.,,146 Basil Pennington and

Sister Humbeline both wrote about monastic praxis in relation to Isaac in their respective articles, "Fasting: Some Thoughts from Isaac of Stella" and "Lectio Divina and Isaac of

Stella. II 147 Last but certainly not least, Hoste and Salet completed their work on

142 Isaac de L 'Etoile: Sermons II, ed. Anselm Hoste and Gaston Salet (SC 207; Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1974). 143 Hugh McCaffrey, "Apophatic Denis and Abbot Isaac of Stella," CSQ 17 (1982): 338-349. 144 Raciti, "Pages nouvelles des sermons d'lsaac de l'Etoile dans un manuscrit d'Oxford," CC 43 (1981): 34-55; Gerard de Martel, "Le commentaire sur Ie Livre de Ruth du ms. Paris Sainte-Genevieve 45," Revue des Etudes Augustiniennes 29 (1983): 257-82. 145 Kathleen O'Neill, "Isaac of Stella on Self-Knowledge," CSQ 19 (1984): 122-38. 146 Garda, "Du nouveau sur Isaac de l'Etoile," Cfteaux 37 (1986): 8-22. 147 M. Basil Pennington, "Fasting: Some Thoughts from Isaac of Stella," Reviewfor Religious 41 (1982): 118-23; Sr. Humbeline, "Lectio Divina and Isaac of Stella," Liturgy: Cistercians ofthe Strict Observance 23 (1989): 87-103. Two additional works from the 1980s that treat Isaac, ifnot primarily, are the following: Andre Fracheboud, Les premiers spirituels cisterciens (Pain de Citeaux 30; Paris: Desclee de Brouwer, 1982); Schaefer, Mary Martina, "Twelfth Century Latin Commentaries on the Mass: Christological and Ecclesiological Dimensions," Ph.D. diss., University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, In., 1983). 43 producing a critical edition of Isaac's sermons for the Sources chretiennes series in

1987. 148

The 1990s were lean years for scholarship on Isaac. Only three articles were written at this time. Fracheboud continued his labors with his 1992 article, "Isaac de l'Etoi1e et P1aton," and his last published work on Isaac shortly before his death, his 1997 article, "Le symbolisme de l'eau chez Isaac de l'Etoi1e.,,149 Vincent Seguret's lengthy article, "La signification spirituelle de la vie insulaire dans les Sermons d'Isaac de l'Etoile," makes up for the dearth of scholarship on Isaac during this decade, as he deals with the important issue of Isaac's experience on Re and how it is to be interpreted. ISO

Mention must be made of Matarasso's translation of two ofIsaac's sermons for the 1993 collection, The Cistercian World: Monastic Writings ofthe Twelfth Century. 151

The first decade of the new millennium has proven to be anything but lean thus far. As of this writing, eight works have appeared that continue to fill in the gaps concerning Isaac's life and works. Alexandre Joly continued to cultivate the field of

Isaac's ecclesiology in her unpublished 2000 dissertation, "Le mystere de l'Eg1ise chez

Isaac de l'Etoile.,,152 While Gastaldelli's 2001 monograph, Studi su san Bernardo e

Goffredo di Auxerre, treats Isaac only indirectly, his continued criticism of Raciti and

148 Isaac de L 'Etoile: Sermons III, ed. Anselm Hoste and Gaston Salet (SC 339 ; Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1987). 149 Andre Fracheboud, "Isaac de l'Etoile et Platon," CC 54 (1992): 175-191; "Le symbolisme de l'eau chez Isaac de l'Etoile," CC 59 (1997): 75-80. Fracheboud died at the Abbey ofNotre Dame de Tamie in 1998. 150 Vincent Seguret, "La signification spirituelle de la vie insulaire dans les Sermons d'Isaac de l'Etoile," I: CC 56 (1994): 343-58; II: CC 57 (1995): 75-92. In addition to the aforementioned articles, see also Martha G. Newman, The Boundaries ofCharity: Cistercian Cuture andEclesiastical Reform, 1098­ 1180 (Figurae; Stanford, Ca.: Stanford University Press, 1996). 151 The Cistercian World: Monastic Writings ofthe Twelfth Century, ed. and trans. Pauline Matarasso (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1993). 152 Alexandre Joly, "Le mystere de I'Eglise chez Isaac de l'Etoile" (Ph.D. diss., Gregorian University, Rome. 2000). Andrea Janelle Dickens refers to Isaac's Christology in her dissertation, "Unus Spititus cum Deo: Six Medieval Cistercian Christologies" (Ph.D. diss., University of Virginia, 2005). 44 elaboration on Garda's work deserves attention. 153 Patrick Terrell Gray focuses on the monastic context of Isaac's work in his 2001 article, "Blessed is the Monk: Isaac of Stella on the Beatitudes.,,154

Dietz produced two articles in 2002 and 2006, respectively: "Conversion in the

Sermons of Isaac of Stella" and "When Exile Is Home: The Biography ofIsaac of

Stella.,,155 Deme has emerged as one of the major scholars on Isaac. His 2005 article on

Isaac's epistemology, "A Reason to Understand: The Epistemology ofIsaac of Stella," announced his interest in Isaac and his 2007 monograph, The Selected Works ofIsaac of

Stella: A Cistercian Voice from the Twelfth Century, adds to the scholarly chain and offers translations of previously untranslated sermons. 156

Most recently the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly ofthe Synod of Bishops met in the Vatican from 5 to 26 October 2008. Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, Secretary

General of the Synod of Bishops, presented the Lineamenta or preliminary guidelines for the synod on 27 April 2007. 157 In Chapter I, "Revelation, the Word of God and the

Church," numerous references are made to the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine

Revelation from the Second Vatican Council (Dei Verbum). The Mother of God is described as the hearer of God's revelation par excellence. Isaac's Sermon 51 is cited:

153 Ferruccio Gastaldelli, Studi su san Bernardo e Goffredo di Auxerre (Millennio medievale 30; Florence: SISMEL edizioni del Galluzzo, 2001). 154 Patrick Terrell Gray, "Blessed is the Monk: Isaac of Stella on the Beatitudes," CSQ 36 (2001): 349-365. 155 Dietz, "Conversion in the Sermons ofIsaac of Stella," CSQ 37 (2002):229-59; "When Exile Is Home: The Biography of Isaac of Stella," CSQ 41 (2006): 141-165. 156 Daniel Deme, "A Reason to Understand: The Epistemology ofIsaac of Stella," American Benedictine Review 56 (2005): 286-308; The Selected Works ofIsaac ofStella: A Cistercian Voice from the Twelfth Century (Aldershot, Hants, England and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2007). 157 XII Ordinary General Assembly: The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church: Lineamenta; retrieved 7 December 2008 from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20070427_lineamenta-xii­ assembly_en.html. 45

In penetrating the mystery of the Word of God, Mary of Nazareth, from the moment ofthe Annunciation, remains the Teacher and Mother of the Church and the exemplar of every encounter with the Word by individuals or entire communities. She welcomes the Word in faith, mediates upon it, interiorises it and lives it (cf. Lk 1:38; 2:19,51; Acts 17:11). Indeed, Mary listened to and meditated upon the Scriptures; she associated them with Jesus' words and the events which she discovered were related to his life. Isaac of Stella says: "In the inspired Scriptures, what is said in a universal sense ofthe virgin mother, the Church, is understood in an individual sense ofthe Virgin Mary...The Lord's inheritance is, in a general sense, the Church; in a special sense, Mary; and in an individual sense, the Christian. Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary's womb, he dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church's faith. He will dwell for ever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul.,,158

After just over a century's worth of scholarship on Isaac, the scholarly literature has grown slowly but surely. The rapid survey of this literature now concluded, I shall proceed with the four main purposes ofthis chapter. First, I shall describe the history of modern scholarship with particular attention to the issue ofBecket. Following this, I demonstrate the areas of consensus and dispute, as well as lacunae in the scholarly literature. I then evaluate the work ofprevious scholars concerning the central questions ofthe dissertation. Lastly I discuss new insights from the scholarly literature that will offer the conceptual framework in which this study is to be understood.

I am interested primarily in locating my work on Isaac in this chain of scholarly literature, demonstrating where my thesis converges and diverges and how it relates to modern scholarship. In other words, I explain how I place my work in the chain of scholarship that precedes this study.

158 Ibid., 11 ("Mary, Every Believer's Model of How to Welcome the Word"); citing Sermon 51.8, 23-4. SC 339: 202,214-6; PL 194: 1863A-B, 1865C. 46

C. Isaac of Stella's Critics and his Place in Modem Scholarship

It has generally been observed, due in large part to the research ofRaciti, that

Isaac suffered for his support of Becket's cause against Henry. Isaac suffered, quite specifically, the loss ofhis abbacy at Stella and was forced into exile on the island ofRe.

The underlying theme is that Isaac was among the more important and influential supporters of Becket among the Cistercians, and that Isaac found himself on the losing side ofthe ecclesiastical and political power struggle in the late-twelfth century.

Raciti's argument, however, is untenable for the reasons that I shall now elaborate. Isaac was neither important nor influential in his support ofBecket. Indeed, I aim to show that Isaac's career and position as abbot of Stella did not suffer due to his position in the controversy between Becket and Henry. Isaac's role, in other words, was a minor one, the consequences for which were negligible at best.

Only since the mid-twentieth century has Isaac attracted significant interest among scholars. Isaac's two treatises have received the most attention but interest in his sennons has not been altogether lacking. Indeed, Raciti has subjected Isaac's sennons to great scrutiny, giving them his close and exacting attention as can be seen in his important article, "Isaac de l'Etoile et son siecle."

But Isaac is no Bernard or even a lesser light among the constellation of

Cistercians from the twelfth century. McGinn remarks that Isaac is "less humane, less easy of access than the other great contemporary English Cistercian, Aelred of Rievaulx,

Isaac surpasses him in the depth and scope ofhis theological vision." 47

Lacking the stylistic virtuosity, the incredible range and the supreme mystical flights of the greatest Cistercian author, Bernard, Isaac is nonetheless more the speculative theologian than the abbot of Clairvaux. In terms of this intellectual power he might be compared with the fourth of the great names among the Cistercian Fathers of the twelfth century, the deep and subtle William of Saint Thierry. 159

Interest in and understanding ofIsaac's place in the history oftheology has been building slowly. Bliemetzrieder and Debray-Mulatier began the process, collecting materials, sketching out the initial lines and chronologies ofIsaac's biography, and setting forth the first crucial hypotheses concerning his life and work. Raciti, meanwhile, did great service to the study of Isaac by combing through his sermons and much in the way of their historical context. A testament to Raciti's importance is the fact that so much of the scholarship following him, in one way or another, a response to Raciti.

However, Garda and Gastaldelli began to break with---or at least question seriously-his thesis; Dietz would do so as well. In this study I shall ally myself to the camp ofRaciti's critics, not to take issue with Raciti but rather to clarify a significant event in Isaac's career as abbot of Stella.

D. Analysis of Literature Relevant to the Problem

While the scholarly literature on Isaac is modest compared to Bernard and other twelfth-century Cistercians, there has been increasing interest in Isaac in the past century.

The research questions posed by this study concern three areas of scholarship: biographical literature on Isaac, the date ofthe foundation ofthe monastery ofNotre

Dame des Chateliers on Re and Isaac's stay there, and literature concerning the nature of

159 Sermons, ix. 48

Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy. What follows is a chronological review of the most relevant literature concerning these three areas, beginning with the pioneering studies of Bliemetzrieder and Debray-Mulatier in the early and mid-twentieth century, and concluding with the recent research of Dietz from 2006.

Bliemetzrieder's article, "Isaak von Stella: Beitrage zur Lebensbeschreibung," is the first modem attempt to gather the documentary evidence and propose the initial hypotheses concerning Isaac. 160 One ofthe most important of the latter was the identification ofthe remote island to which Isaac refers numerous times in his sermons.

Bliemetzrieder identifies the location of"this distant, arid and rough wilderness"

(semotam, aridam, et squalentem induximus solitudinem) to which Isaac refers in Sermon

14 161 as the island ofR6, a small island a few miles offthe west coast ofFrance near the port of La Rochelle on the Bay of Biscay. 162

Bliemetzrieder's judgment has since served as the default setting for subsequent scholars. Indeed, no scholar has questioned, let alone attempted to offer a counterargument to, Bliemetzrieder's conclusion. Documentary evidence that will be reported in Chapter II further confirms R6 as the location ofthe monastery ofNotre

Dame des Chateliers.

In addition to identifying the location ofthe wilderness to which Isaac referred,

Bliemetzrieder furthermore argues for the foundation ofthe monastery of Notre Dame des Chateliers on R6 around 1151_52. 163 Isaac's involvement in the foundation ofthis

160 Bliemetzrieder, "Isaak von Stella: Beitriige zur Lebensbeschreibung," lahrbuch der Philosophie und spekulativen Theologie 15 (1904): 1-34. 161 Sermon 14.11. SC 130: 276; PL 194: 1737A. Salet presents a range of opinions concerning the number of sermons in which Isaac alluded to Re, from 23 (Debray-Mulatier) to 39 (Gaggero). See SC 130: 27. 162 Bliemetzrieder, "Isaak von Stella," 6. 163 Ibid. 49 monastery is known through two acts of donation as well as a letter from the donor to the abbot of Pontigny; Isaac, however, does not refer to the date of its foundation in any of his works.

The significance ofthe approximate date ofthe monastery's foundation will be elaborated upon in the following chapter. It is important here and now to indicate where each scholar has come down on the matter ofthe date and in the subsequent discussion of my analytical strategies (in Chapter II) interpret the strengths and weaknesses ofthe arguments as well as to provide my own on the basis of the extant documents.

Debray-Mulatier continues on the path begun by Bliemetzrieder in her article

(based on her research from 1940 but not published until 1959), "Biographie d'Isaac de

Stella.,,164 Much like Bliemetzrieder before her, Debray-Mulatier attempts to determine the biography ofa little-known and elusive figure. 165 Her concern is largely to integrate scattered biographical material into a coherent whole. 166

Debray-Mulatier's contribution to the scholarly literature on Isaac is three-fold.

First, she rejects what is of such importance to Raciti, namely, the mining ofIsaac's sermons for biographical data. While Debray-Mulatier is quick to acknowledge the importance of Bliemetzrieder's "scrupulous study" a half-century prior to her own, she does part company with him concerning a possible allusion to Isaac's life. Quoting

Sermon 27.2, Bliemetzrieder understands Isaac's phrase, qui in mundo aliquid videbamur, to be an allusion to Isaac's high status in society. 167

164 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie d'Isaac de Stella," Cfteaux 10 (1959): 178-98. 165 Ibid., 178. 166 Ibid., 179. 167 Bliemetzrieder, "Isaak von Stella," 3. SC 207: 142; PL 194: 1778B. 50

Debray-Mulatier counters: "But the beginning ofthe sermon shows that Isaac, developing St. Luke ('We go up to Jerusalem' [18:31]), points those who came to this distant island to make ascent to Jerusalem...I believe that Isaac here is not referring to his earlier life as a layperson, but as the abbot of Stella, and nothing other than a simple monk on Re.,,168

Debray-Mulatier's second contribution concerns Isaac's involvement in the

Becket controversy, in particular the consequences of Isaac siding with Becket. Even though Becket sought refuge in France and Isaac (along with Bellesmains) asked the monks of Citeaux and Pontigny for their prayers on Becket's behalf, it does not appear that Isaac suffered for it. "In spite ofthis intervention," Debray-Mulatier reports, "it does not seem to have gone beyond the spiritual and temporal activity of an abbot dealing with his monastery. The abbot is not only the pastor of the flock of God, he is also the administrator of the house of God; he must have all things with prudence andjustice.,,169

Debray-Mulatier's third contribution concerns the date the foundation ofthe monastery ofNotre Dame des Chiiteliers on Re, which she argues was around 1155-56.

Appended to her article are two documents she discovered in the archives ofthe

Congregation ofthe Oratory and a letter from a cartulary of Pontigny. 170 The first document is a donation made by Eblo ofMauleon and his nephew to Isaac and John of

Trizay, the abbot of a nearby abbey that had been incorporated into the Cistercian Order at about the same time as Stella. 171 The letter is from Eblo to the abbot ofPontigny, wherein Elbo asks the abbot to found a monastery on the site (i.e., Re) he had previously

168 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 180. 169 Ibid., 187. 170 Ibid., 195-8. 171 Ibid., 195-6. 51 given to Isaac and John. ln Lastly is the document whereby Eblo confirms his donation following the abbot ofPontigny's visit to Re.!73

While Debray-Mulatier's research, like that of Bliemetzrieder, was sketchy and provisional, it demonstrates an early attempt of a modem scholar to treat Isaac on the basis of extant documents. Only with Garda's subsequent research would Isaac be dealt with on the basis of still earlier materials. Her aversion to speculation and penchant for not straying beyond the paucity of evidence at her disposal stands in marked contrast to

Raciti's approach.

At the same time, like Bliemetzrieder, Debray-Mulatier filled in far too few gaps concerning Isaac's life and career as abbot. Later scholars would corne to find her work nonetheless important, and the foundation laid by both Bliemetzrieder and Debray-

Mulatier remains valuable for students of Isaac.

No study ofIsaac-his sermons in particular-would be complete without the use of Raciti's landmark article, "Isaac de l'Etoile et son siecle.,,!74 Raciti, a Cistercian monk from the Abbey of Notre Dame of Orval in modem-day Florenville, Belgium, focuses his meticulous study ofIsaac's sermons on Sermon 48, a sermon Isaac delivered (according to Raciti) on 24 June 1166. 175 Raciti's selection of Sermon 48 as the key sermon in

Isaac's oeuvre is justified since, as Raciti explains, Isaac refers to at least three important issues in the sermon. In particular it is the interpretive key for understanding Isaac, his relationship with Becket and its consequences.

172 Ibid., I96-7. 173 Ibid., I97-8. 174 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile et son siecle," Cfteaux 12 (1961): 281-306; 13 (1962): 18-34,133-45, 205-16. 175 Ibid., 21. 52

In Sermon 48 Isaac begins by addressing his recent change of style: "As several of you inquire: 'What has come over this poor man? How has the gold ofhis intelligence been so darkened and his bright eloquence so changed?",176 This is, for Raciti, one indication oftrouble for Isaac, namely, that he has had to give up his previously speculative preaching in favor of a simpler, more direct style. Why the sudden change in style? Raciti argues that Isaac was caught up in the theological controversies ofthe

1160s, specifically those involving Peter Abelard and Gilbert de la Pon~e, both ofwhom

Raciti identified as among Isaac's teachers. 177

Following the Councils ofTours (1163) and Sens (1164), theological disputes that had grown heated over the years had [mally come to a head. Indeed, at the Council of

Sens, Pope Alexander III put more than 3,000 theologians on notice, one ofwhom

(according to Raciti) was Isaac himself. 178 Isaac was, therefore, on guard and keen on toeing the theological line. This is one ofthe reasons for the abrupt change in his preaching style to which he calls attention at the beginning ofSermon 48. 179

The second reason Sermon 48 is of such importance for Raciti in understanding

Isaac's life and works is a criticism Isaac makes midway through the sermon. Isaac refers to the appearance "a new and monstrous breed ofmilitary" (novae militiae obortum est monstrum novum).180 Raciti understands this to be in reference to the military Order of Calatrava, approved by Pope Alexander III on 24 September 1164.

While Isaac does not condemn the order outright, he nevertheless is clear concerning

176 Sermon 48.2. Quo, inquiunt vestrum nonnulli, demersus est homo iste? Quomodo obscuratum est aurum intelligentiae suae, mutates est color optimus eloquentiae suae? SC 339: 152; PL 194: l853B. 177 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 292-6. For a brief background on the theological controversies themselves, see ibid., 24-7. 178 Ibid., 25-6. 179 What is more, according to Raciti, Isaac is here preaching not in Latin but rather the vernacular. See ibid., 285. 180 Sermon 48.8. SC 339: 158; PL 194: l854B. 53 what he thinks of it. And Isaac's attitude toward the order, according to Raciti, doubtless made Isaac unpopular with the leaders ofthe Cistercian Order. 181

The third and certainly most important reason is Isaac's involvement in the

Becket conflict. For Raciti, this is the key to interpreting Sermon 48 and other sermons, as well as Isaac's subsequent career, death and memory. Much of Raciti's argument will be gone over in greater detail in Chapter II. Raciti's argument, put briefly, is as follows.

In his sermons Isaac refers to a period of "exile" on an island, most likely Re; this exile was one into which Isaac was forced, due to his theological speculation as well as his support of Becket; Geoffrey of Auxerre was an opponent of Gilbert de la Poree and among the anti-Becket Cistercians; Geoffrey, therefore was the prime mover in persecuting and ultimately exiling Isaac to Re.

Raciti is clear that Geoffrey-abbot of Clairvaux as well as biographer and former secretary of Bernard-was the architect of Isaac's silencing and exile to Re. 182 Raciti even goes so far to say that Geoffrey's persecution ofIsaac on theological bases was a pretext to punish him for his political positions. 183

Raciti's argument for the foundation ofNotre Dame des Chateliers in 1167 is part and parcel ofhis argument for Isaac paying the price for his support ofBecket.

Following Becket's decision to leave the Cistercian monastery at Pontigny, where he had been staying since 1164, Henry continued to seek vengeance. 184 According to Raciti,

Henry sought to punish the pro-Becket party among the Cistercians in particular. Raciti

181 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 21. 182 See especially ibid., 138-9. 183 Ibid., 34. 184 Ibid., 143-5. 54 quoted a letter likely from December 1166, wherein Henry reminds the abbot of

Clairvaux ofhis promise to punish certain monks who had sided with Becket.185

Reflecting on all the turmoil and controversy in which Isaac was involved, Raciti concludes:

Thus it was that Isaac-viewed badly by the nobility ofPoitou because he was English; by the king ofEngland because he was a friend ofThomas Becket; by Geoffrey ofClairvaux because ofhis culture; by the abbot ofCiteaux because ofhis opposition to the affiliation of Calatrava and the decision to send Thomas Becket away from Pontigny-was deposed and sent into exile to the island ofRe. 186

Isaac as well as John of Trizay were exiled to Re in January 1167 where, humiliated and despairing, they struggled to form a new community for themselves and the disgraced monks with them. 187

In his introduction to the first volume ofthe Sources chretiennes edition ofIsaac's sermons, Salet provides an overview ofIsaac's life, works, theology, and sources. 188

While Salet is sceptical ofmany ofRaciti's speculations, he generally follows his outline and chronology. It is in the first section of Salet's introduction, "L'homme," that I will focus my attention. 189

Salet follows Raciti's chronology in arguing for Isaac's birth around 1100;190 his student days most likely in Chartres;191 unlike Raciti, however, Salet argues for Isaac's

185 Ibid., 143. See Epistle 188 in Materials 5: 365-6. 186 Ibid., 144-5. 187 Ibid., 207-10. 188 SaIet, Gaston. "Introduction," in SC 130: 7-63. 189 Ibid., 7-25. 190 Ibid., 12. 191 Ibid., 13-4. 55 entry into monastic life at Stella at some point before its affiliation with the Cistercian

Order. 192 Salet does concur with Raciti that Isaac died around 1168 or 1169 on Re. 193

Like Raciti, Salet believes that Isaac paid a price for his support of Becket against

Henry. Unlike Raciti, however, Salet is more cautious and less likely to offer conjecture.

For Salet, it suffices to say that following the General Chapter in 1166, when the

Cistercian Order withdrew its previous hospitality toward Becket, Isaac nevertheless

"remained faithful to the cause ofhis friend.,,194

The active and continued support of Becket led to the reversal ofIsaac's fortunes and his sojourn on the island ofRe, at time that coincided with the founding of Notre

Dame des Chateliers. While Salet is less given to the speculation and conjecture ofRaciti concerning the details ofIsaac's "exile," he does argue for a date of the monastery's founding around 1167. 195

In striking contrast to Raciti, however, Salet does not leave us with an image of a forlorn and destitute martyr dying alone and forgotten in forced exile. Salet's image is one of a monk whose love for Christ and the monastic life remained undiminished.

"Given generously once and for all to Christ," Salet writes, "observing strictly and uprightly the Cistercian rule, he requires of his monks-with passionate insistence­ humility, mortification, and obedience. If he has escaped to the island of Re, is it not in the hope of higher contemplation and also in the desire to 'embrace the naked cross of

ChriSt'?"l96

192 Ibid., 14-5. 193 Ibid., 24-5. 194 Ibid., 17. 195 Ibid., 23. 196 Ibid., 24-5. 56

McGinn's monograph, The Golden Chain: A Study in the Theological

Anthropology ofIsaac ofStella, was the fIrst book-length study ofIsaac to emerge. 197

McGinn's main interest "is to show that Isaac's theology of man is best understood in the light of the Platonic tradition organized about the central symbol ofthe golden chain of being.,,198 His study is nevertheless important in tracking post-Raciti scholarship on

Isaac.

McGinn is evidently and admittedly dependent on the work of Raciti. While he expresses some reservations and criticisms of Raciti's theories, McGinn (like Salet) accepts Raciti's argument and chronology: Isaac studied in France in the late 1120s and

1130s, most likely Paris and Chartres; 199 Isaac became abbot of Stella in 1147;200 Isaac's exile to R6 in 1167 coincided with the founding ofNotre Dame des Chateliers.201

Concerning the Becket controversy in particular, McGinn devotes an excursus,

"The Place ofthe Cistercian Order in the Early Years ofthe Becket Controversy," to the issue. 202 McGinn concurs with Raciti that Isaac was a friend of Becket's and a leader of a pro-Becket party among the Cistercians. McGinn calls attention to a letter from 22 June

1164 from Bellesmains to Becket, wherein he assures Becket ofhis support of his cause against Henry:

I advise your holiness, then, to establish a closer friendship with the abbot of Pontigny, either in person, if you can come to France yourself on the pretext ofpursuing your case,

197 Bernard McGinn, The Golden Chain: A Study in the Theological Anthropology ofIsaac of Stella (CS 15; Washington, D.C.: Cistercian Publications, 1972). McGinn is most interested in Isaac's thought "given the gaps in the evidence." Ibid., ix. J98 Ibid., ix. 199 Ibid., 10. 200 Ibid. 201 Ibid., 18-21. The matter oflsaac's "exile" to and the dates of his sojourn on Re will occupy much of the following chapter. 202 Ibid., 34-50. 57 or at least by letter, if you cannot secure the license to quit the country, although our common friend, our own Abbot Isaac of Stella and I have arranged that the most holy monastery of Pontigny should keep you continually in their prayers. You will find that Pontigny is also ready to serve you even in temporal affairs, if it should be necessary; much indeed can be achieved through the diligence and holiness of the abbot ofPontigny and the other abbots ofthe Cistercian Order.203

Ofparticular importance to McGinn is Bellesmains's reference to their "common friend," Isaac, which he takes as "evidence of Isaac of Stella's role in these negotiations.,,204 McGinn is unequivocal concerning his agreement with Raciti in the following:

Surely, G. Raciti.. .is correct in seeing here an allusion to active political adhesion to the cause of Becket on Isaac's part, and not only the remembrance in prayers envisaged by Mlle Debray-Mulatier. The lack of any further direct evidence renders suspect imaginative speculation about what forms-visits, letters, etc.-Isaac's work on behalf of Becket may have taken in the period 1164-66; but this does not lessen the assurance that Isaac was an active member of the pro-Becket party in the Cistercian Order whose history fortunately can be traced with some degree of precision.205

McGinn does, however, part company with Raciti when it comes to Geoffrey's campaign to silence Isaac. He initially casts doubt on Raciti's argument that Geoffrey was "the chief agent in this campaign," adding:

Admittedly, the hypothesis does not conflict with what we know of the character and capabilities of Geoffrey; but could the Abbot of Clairvaux have had that much direct authority on a son ofPontigny, especially at a time when he himself was apparently fighting for the maintenance of his position? Furthermore, the situation of theological tension would seem to correspond better with 1165 than 1166. Raciti's only reason for the choice of the later date is because he sees political, not theological, motives as dominant in Geoffrey's mind-another unprovable assertion.206

203 Letter 31. Materials 5: 1I4;ET: Correspondence, 1: 105. 204 McGinn, Golden Chain, 37. 205 Ibid., 38. 206 Ibid., 21. 58

McGinn returns to Raciti's theory of Geoffrey's supposed role in the consequences ofIsaac's support ofBecket as being "almost certainly mistaken.,,207

McGinn concurs, however, with Raciti (as well as Salet) concerning the date of the foundation ofthe monastery on Re as well as Isaac's sojourn there: "a date early in the year 1167 is the most probable one for Isaac's retirement to Re.,,208

In 1981 Raciti published some newly discovered fragments ofIsaac's sermons.209

Raciti begins by recalling Leclercq's discovery in 1964 of a sermon by Isaac that helped to fill the gap in Tissier's collection in PL 194.210 Raciti's own discovery ofseveral fragments in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University further sheds light on the knotty question ofIsaac's sermons.

Raciti's discovery is a collection of several manuscripts from the end ofthe twelfth and the beginning ofthe thirteenth century, the provenance of which (according to Raciti) was either northern France or Flanders.2l1 The attribution ofthese sermons to

Isaac seems undoubted.212 In one ofthese sermons, Isaac refers to his return from a brief exile.213 According to Raciti, the exile to which Isaac refers must have been toward the end ofIsaac's abbacy, between 1165 and 1167, and formed part ofthe process that led to the foundation ofNotre Dame des Chateliers on Re.214 Raciti refers to the controversy

207 Ibid., 43. 208 Ibid., 21. 209 Raciti, "Pages nouvelles des sermons d'Isaac de l'Etoile dans un manuscript d'Oxford," Coli 43 (1981): 34-55. 210 Ibid., 34-5. Raciti cites the following article by Leclercq: Jean Leclercq, "Nouveau sermon d'Isaac de l'Etoile," Revue d'aschique et de fa mystique 40 (1964): 277-88. 2ll Ibid., 35-6. 212 Ibid., 39. 213 Ibid., 51; cf. SC 339: 294. 214 Ibid., 42. 59 between Becket and Henry, and how beginning in 1165 the latter began a policy of banishing those who had supported Becket.

This exile "probably consisted of a stay in the territories ofthe king of France, which does not seem to have taken too long-perhaps only a few months."Z15 Raciti continues:

It is natural to suppose that Isaac would have gone to Pontigny, Stella's mother house, which would take the direct responsibility for the foundation ofRe, which Isaac initially considered. Pontigny had agreed to be the refuge for Becket in 1164 and always remained attached to his cause.Z16

In the end, Raciti leaves his theory of a forced exile to Re and a definitive departure from Stella intact. These fragments, he argues, "do not shed new insight on

Isaac. But they do make it possible to gain a more nuanced understanding ofIsaac's doctrine and a more precise understanding of the events ofhis life."z17

Garda's article, "Du nouveau sur Isaac de l'Etoile," marked a turning point in the scholarship on Isaac, in particular the matter ofhis supposed exile on Re,z18 Garda's research was based on archival material that was removed from Stella in the eighteenth century. Some ofthe material indicates that Isaac died as abbot of Stella; other material supports the dating of Isaac's time on Re in the 1150s. On both points Garda seriously questions and undermines Raciti's earlier research.

215 Ibid., 43. 216 Ibid. 217 Ibid., 44-5. 218 Garda, "Du nouveau sur Isaac de l'Etoile," Cfteaux 37 (1986): 8-22. 60

Garda begins by setting his sights squarely on Raciti. Previous studies of Isaac were too quick to assume too much on the basis ofIsaac's sermons.219 The result ofthis research, Garda wrote, is that speculation "is now taken uncritically as historical fact. ,,220

Garda intends, however, to focus on documents that have been overlooked until now in order to provide a contribution to a more meticulous study ofIsaac's life.

Garda critiques the earlier work of both Debray-Mulatier and Raciti, arguing that they had limited themselves to the scanty notes of the Maurist Claude Estiennot (d.

1699), preserved in the Bibliotheque nationale.221 Other sources exist, however, that are older and, indeed, comprise a more complete set of information from which to draw conclusions about Isaac.

Garda enumerates 12 such documents, all from the mid- to late twelfth century, that relate directly to Isaac.222 The documents include, inter alia, the confirmation of

Isaac becoming abbot of Stella in 1147; a letter from Pope Eugene III from 1149; an agreement between Bellesmains (then bishop ofPoitiers), Hugh ofChauvigny, and Isaac

(referred to in the documents as "Isaac, abbe de l'Etoi1e") from 1167; and letter from

Isaac to Bellesmains from sometime between 1162 and 1169, to which is attached Isaac's seal.223

None of these documents, however, shed light on the most obscure event in

Isaac's life, namely, the foundation ofNotre Dame des Chateliers on Re. Ifwe wishe to follow Raciti's thesis, Garda argues, that Isaac definitively left Stella around 1167 or

1168, then it is necessary-"in the absence of any other proof," as Garda remarks-to be

219 Ibid., 8. Garda specifically mentions the studies of Raciti as well as Salet in 8n.!. 220 Ibid. 221 Ibid., 9. 222 Ibid., 10-7. 223 Ibid., 10-11, 14-5, 17. 61 satisfied with Raciti's reasoning that since the tradition ofStella does not record Isaac's departure to R6, this proves that the event was ofsuch sadness and significance that it was all the better left unrecorded.224

Garda cites two documents (one undated and one from 1188), however, that demonstrate the memory ofIsaac not as a disgraced and deposed abbot, but rather refer to

"the blessed memory of Isaac.,,225 In the end, Garda concurs with the earlier research of

Debray-Mu1atier and argues for a dating ofNotre Dame des Chateliers to around 1156, making Isaac's time on R6 a brief parenthesis during an otherwise unbroken tenure as abbot of Stella. 226

When it comes to mining Isaac's sermons for historical and biographical information, Garda argues that "the metaphorical style of Isaac" must be considered "and not take for historical fact a certain number ofhypotheses deprived ofconcrete support.,,227 Garda clearly has Raciti in mind and cites Salet's similar reservations toward RaCltI.. , s specul' atlve arguments. 228

Garda's final criticism of Raciti concerns Isaac's death and burial. Raciti, as we have seen, argued that Isaac died in disgrace and on R6; Raciti also argued that had Isaac been buried at Stella there would have survived some tradition demonstrating this. 229

Raciti's argument, Garda counters, overlooks the devastations that occurred around Stella during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). Garda also demonstrates how conventual life at Stella had ceased by the seventeenth century.230 Indeed, the monastery was

224 Ibid., 18, citing Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 209n.267. 225 Ibid., 18-9. 226 Ibid., 18, citing Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 192-3 and 22n.57. 227 Ibid., 21. 228 Ibid. 229 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 212n.276. 230 Garda, "Du nouveau," 21. 62 deserted when Jerome Petit took possession ofit in 1621.231 "The memory ofIsaac,"

Garda concludes, "had perished at Stella.,,232

Raciti takes into consideration Garda's discovery in his brief notes in the third and final volume of Isaac's sermons in the Sources chretiennes edition.233 Raciti maintains his basic argument as he did in his article from 1981, noting that only a late dating of the foundation ofNotre Dame des Chateliers on Re can explain Isaac's forced exile. Raciti does modify his argument, however, in that he omits any mention of Geoffrey as the agent ofIsaac's persecution and ultimate downfal1.234

While Gastaldelli's article, "Tradizione e sviluppo: La formazione culturae e teologica di Goffredo di Auxerre," does not focus on Isaac primarily, it is nevertheless an important example of recent scholarship that also argues against Raciti's central thesis of a forced exile on Re. 235 Gastaldelli begins by explaining how Geoffrey, not unlike Isaac, has been overshadowed by the luminaries of the twelfth century like Bernard and

Abelard. In the medieval sources, he continued, we find occasional and fragmentary references to certain figures and events, but in modem studies we often find judgments based on inconsistent indications or arbitrary suppositions not based on facts. To

Gastaldelli this was obviously the case when it comes to Isaac. 236

Gastaldelli rehearses Raciti's basic argument and pays particular attention to

Geoffrey's role in the Becket controversy. According to Raciti, Geoffrey was the prime

231 See Garda, "Vie inedit de Dom Jeome Petit, abbe de l'Etoile, I'un de promoteurs de l'Etroite Observance," Cfteaux 38 (1987): 34-58. 232 Garda, "Du nouveau," 22. 233 Raciti, "Nostrum exsilium," in SC 339: 316-9. 234 Ibid., 318-9. 235 Ferruccio Gastaldelli, "Tradizione e sviluppo: La forrnazione culturae e teologica di Goffredo di Auxerre," in Studi su san Bernardo e Goffredo di Auxerre (Florence: SISMEL-Edizinoi del Galluzzo, 2001),341-74. 236 Ibid., 341. 63 mover in the punitive measures against Isaac due to the latter's support ofBecket;

Geoffrey's animus toward Isaac in particular was the hostility between Becket and

Henry. Gastaldelli argues, however, that Isaac was able to avoid any negative consequences ofhis support ofBecket by accepting Henry's condition of not allowing

Becket to remain at Pontigny.237

Citing the important study of Garda, Gastaldelli presents Isaac's visit to Re as having been brief (only a few weeks) but nevertheless one that provided him with the opportunity to recall the experience in subsequent sermons.238 Thus, Isaac's short stay on

Re (the date ofwhich Gastaldelli concurs with Garda) was not an exile into which Isaac was forced but rather little more than a business trip, as Gastaldelli reports, in order to obtain for Eblo ofMauleon the donation ofland he had given for a new monastery on the island.

Gastaldelli argues against Raciti in two ways. In the first place, Gastaldelli gives far less credence to the homilies of Isaac as biographical or historical sources than does

Raciti. Raciti's thesis, as we have seen, is based on one ofIsaac's sermons (Sermon 48), wherein Isaac explains how he has decided to change his style and proposes a simpler teaching. Gastaldelli counters, however, that this amounted to a too strong dependence on a literal interpretation ofan allegorical witness.239

Second and more important, Gastaldelli also uses historical documents that were not extant at the time of Raciti's researches. Indeed, not until Garda-a "lucky

237 Ibid., 342-3. 238 Ibid., 343n.10. 239 Ibid., 343. 64 researcher" (un fortunate ricercatore)---discovered the manuscripts described above was it even possible for them to be used.24o

Gastaldelli's article is a useful study ofthe role Geoffrey played during Isaac's tenure as abbot of Stella, in particular within the context of the Becket controversy. As we have seen, Raciti argues that Geoffrey was the main opponent ofIsaac and ultimately forced him into exile on Re. Gastaldelli argues, however, that Raciti's theory lacked any foundation in the historical evidence--ehiefly the documents recently discovered by

Garda-and, therefore, is to be dismissed. 24I Indeed, according to Gastaldelli, following the Becket controversy Isaac was not in exile but rather safely in his calm abbey of

Stella.242

A recent article by Dietz, "When Exile Is Home: The Biography ofIsaac of

Stella," provides a useful summary ofthe scholarly literature as well as the status quaestionis.243 Dietz seeks to clarify some ofthe key points in Isaac's career as abbot of

Stella as well as the extent to which Isaac's sermons may be used as sources ofhistorical and, indeed, biographical information.

Isaac's obscurity and the lack ofbiographical information, Dietz writes, have led to "divergent interpretation" and "wild conjecture." Certain features of Isaac's biography have become standardized: "Isaac is presented as a marginal or marginalized figure who, for ideological reasons, either chose or was forced to live in exile on the island ofRe, where he is presumed to have died in obscurity.,,244

240 Ibid. 241 Ibid., 344. 242 Ibid. 243 Dietz, "When Exile Is Home: The Biography ofIsaac of Stella," CSQ 41 (2006): 141-65. 244 Ibid., 142. 65

Dietz begins by focusing on the foundation ofNotre Dame des Chateliers on Re, which he believes occurred around 1156, and argues for a three-stage process: the initial donation by Elbo ofMauleon at the request ofIsaac and John, abbot of Trizay; Elbo's subsequent letter to the abbot ofPontigny asking him to found an abbey on the site he

(i.e., Elbo) had previously donated to Isaac and John; the abbot ofPontigny visits Re and accepts the proposal and donation.245

The question of to whom Elbo's letter was addressed is one point of debate. Dietz argues that Guichard, abbot ofPontigny until 1165, was the recipient.246 Raciti, on the other hand, argues in favor of Garinus, who was abbot of Pontigny from 1165 to 1174. 247

Raciti overlooks, according to Dietz, the fact that while Elbo's initial letter does not name the abbot ofPontigny, but instead uses the initial "G" of the person to whom it was addressed, "(i)t was during Guichard's abbacy that Pontigny made most ofits twelfth­ century foundations or incorporations.,,248

Of great importance to Dietz is the charter that comprised the third and final stage. Although the charter refers to Isaac and John as monks rather than abbots, Dietz points out that Guichard calls them "his monks" as well as the abbots of Stella and

Trizay, respectively. "Nothing in this charter warrants the conclusion that Isaac or John changed status as a result ofPontigny's adoption ofthe Re foundation.,,249

Raciti's thesis comes under scrutiny throughout Dietz's article. Dietz summarizes

Raciti's argument, in particular Geoffrey's role in persecuting Isaac and ultimately forcing him into exile, and judges that it "lacks any serious historical foundation and is

245 Ibid., 145-6. 246 Ibid., 146. Debray-Mulatier shared this view as well; see Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 197. 247 Radti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 210. 248 Dietz, "Exile," 147. 249 Ibid., 148. 66 based on premises that recent studies have called into question.,,25o Dietz's argument contra Raciti is three-fold. First, Raciti fundamentally misinterprets Sermon 48, having read into it indications of external pressure or persecution and ultimate exile. Isaac's use of simpler speech in preaching was likely to accommodate lay brothers, not because of

"external persecution.,,251

Second, Dietz argues that Raciti's theory of Isaac as an active supporter of Becket

"is based on a relatively insignificant passage in a letter of 1164 to Thomas Becket from

John Bellesmains, fellow Englishman and life-long friend, now Bishop ofPoitiers.,,252

Bellesmains urged Becket to seeks close ties with the abbot ofPontigny, mentioning as well that their "common friend," Isaac, is seeking prayers on behalf of Becket and his cause. Isaac, however, is one of three "common friends" mentioned in the letter and "in the vast documentation preserved from the Becket affair there is no further mention ofthe abbot of Stella.,,253

For Dietz, the question is not whether Isaac was a supporter of Becket, but rather whether he was a major figure. "There is no doubt that the moral and practical support offered by reform-minded Cistercians was a major factor throughout the affair," Dietz alleges. "But to see him as a key player in the complex unfolding of events has no documentary support.,,254 Guichard and Bellesmains emerged from the Becket affair unscathed. There is no reason, according to Dietz, to believe that it was otherwise for

250 Ibid., 149. 251 Ibid., 150. 252 Ibid. 253 Ibid. 254 Ibid., 151. 67

Isaac. "(T)here is no reason to think Isaac would have been singled out for reprisals, especially since none of the evidence points in that direction.,,255

Finally, Dietz rejects Raciti's argument that Geoffrey was the agent ofIsaac's

"exile" to Re. Modern historians have described him as being responsible for condemning both Isaac and Joachim of Fiore but with no solid evidence in either case.

"With or without a persecutor in the person of Geoffrey," Dietz declares, "Isaac was in no more danger than any other Cistercian abbot after the withdrawal of Cistercian hospitality for Becket in 1166."256 Considering Geoffrey's own troubles (e.g., having been forced to resign as abbot ofClairvaux in 1165), he "was hardly in a position to engage in reprisals against Becket's supporters, and in any case would have had no motive for doing SO.,,257

Dietz also argues against Raciti's method ofmining Isaac's sermons for historical and biographical data. The theme of "exile" in particular is not to be taken literally, but rather is a literary device in keeping with monastic sermons.258 The circumstantial details and historical information Isaac seems to offer in his sermons are not described for their own sake. Rather, Isaac intends for them "to bolster his argument about the danger of monks being ensnared by a kind of curiositas that incites them always to look for new and different experiences.,,259

Isaac's references to "exile," therefore, are allegorical and used by Isaac to further his teaching on asceticism and the monastic life-not to make a point concerning his life in exile on Re. "The allegory could apply equally to Isaac's entrance at Stella (perhaps

255 Ibid., 152. 256 Ibid. 257 Ibid. 258 Ibid., 154-8. 259 Ibid., 154. 68 with several fellow students in tow) and to the experience on the island of Re," Dietz reasons. "There is no need of accurate knowledge about the Re episode to perceive that it was a 'spiritual drama' that left its mark on Isaac, suffused his metaphorical imagination, and became for him a powerful medium for expressing deep theological and spiritual truths. ,,260

E. Relation of Literature to Present Study

What in fact do we know about Isaac? The details of his biography are, for the scholar especially, frustratingly few. But when we first determine what can truly be known about Isaac, then we can see that Raciti goes too far in his thesis. Reports of

Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy have been greatly exaggerated, as Mark

Twain once said of his own death.

Prior to Raciti, no one had read through Isaac's sermons as carefully and thoroughly; scholars truly owe him a great debt. But Raciti, so often near the mark, was not always on it. He had a fundamentally flawed thesis when it came to Isaac's "exile" and his involvement with Becket. And this flaw affected his overall take on Isaac-and it has affected the general drift of subsequent scholarship on Isaac.

Like Raciti, I shall focus on Isaac's sermons. I shall in particular focus on Isaac's sermons as sermons-something I think Raciti failed to do. He tended to read them literally, as biography, and not as monastic sermons with all the conventions that applied.

Raciti's principle is simple: once a forced exile to Re is admitted, the reader has the

260 Ibid., 155. Dietz further states: "At no point does Isaac convey details of that episode for purposes of accurate description." Ibid., 158. 69 interpretive key with which to read Isaac's sermons and determine his level of support of

Becket. How else can we understand not only Raciti's work but also the influence it has exerted on subsequent scholarship?

Raciti's thesis is a grand narrative that attempts to answer everything about Isaac and the Becket controversy. In reality, however, it has only muddied the academic waters. More problematically, it has provided a theory for reading Isaac and the Becket controversy that lacks evidence, contradicts what admittedly little is known about Isaac and makes of Isaac a figure of much greater importance and influence than is allowable.

Such is the scholarly consensus on Isaac, nearly halfa century after Raciti's important article. With few exceptions, Isaac is described as an active and, what is more, significant supporter of Becket. The price Isaac paid for his support of Becket and his cause was the loss ofhis abbacy and exile to the island ofRe, where he died in obscurity.

This study is my attempt to continue the volteface begun by Garda when it comes to setting the record straight concerning Isaac and the extent of his involvement with

Becket. To misread the sermons and other documents at our disposal is to misread the life and work of Isaac himself. Much worse, such misreading makes Isaac the elusive,

"mysterious" figure that is much more of a piece with conjecture than fact.

I propose to question the basis on which Raciti based his theory concerning

Isaac's forced exile to Re. I shall add to the existing knowledge ofIsaac's life and works by broadening the research that has already been done to include Isaac's use of allegory in his sermons and specifically the function and role of monastic sermons. The latter is an important point. In recent years, medieval sermon studies has become an academic 70

discipline all its own and the fruit of this scholarship will be more apparent in the

following chapter.261

Suffice to say, I shall argue that ifwe consider Isaac's sermons precisely as

sermons, many of Raciti's theories very quickly appear untenable and, indeed,

superfluous. While I cannot transport either myself or my reader back to the twelfth

century, I can discuss Isaac's sermons against their historical, theological, linguistic, and

technological background. This will allow me to demonstrate that as an abbot and a

preacher, the vehicle for Isaac's thought-the sermon delivered to monks and lay

brothers in the chapter house-was much more complicated than either Raciti or previous

scholars have noted.

I shall describe the "variegated experience" of monastic preaching, as Carolyn

Muessig writes. "Just as there exists a difficulty in summarizing what constitutes

preaching," she continues, "there is also a similar problem in defining sermons. This is

greatly owing to the situation of studying a written genre which is supposed to represent

an oral event.,,262

261 For a survey of the last forty year's worth of scholarship, see Augustine Thompson, "From Texts to Preaching: Retrieving the Medieval Sermon as an Event," in Preacher, Sermon and Audience in the Middle Ages, ed. Carolyn Muessig (A New History ofthe Sermon 3; Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2002), 13-37. 262 Muessig, Carolyn. "What is Medieval Monastic Preaching? An Introduction," in Medieval Monastic Preaching, ed. Carolyn Muessig (Studies in Intellectual History 90; Leiden and Boston: Brill, 1998),4 71

F. Rationale and Hypotheses for Present Study

In this study I challenge the pervasive assumptions about the controversy between

Becket and the Cistercians. In particular I challenge the idea that Isaac actively supported Becket and paid a heavy price. Raciti's thesis, with its overdependence and overemphasis on the Re incident, has become coterminous with Isaac's biography itself.

Raciti's thesis has stamped his undoubtedly brilliant work on Isaac to such an extent that what emerges is something different from the raw material (i.e., Isaac's sermons) on which it is based.

Raciti tries to prove too much. He has overplayed his hand, as it were, in attempting to know and prove everything concerning Isaac and in particular an incident in Isaac's life that wi111ike1y remain elusive. What details can be known about Isaac's time spent on Re, however incomplete they may be, are that it was brief and not the result of an exile or other punitive measures. Raciti's thesis on this score, therefore, is found wanting.

In this study I am offering a look at Isaac from a different perspective. My approach, which I shall elaborate in the following chapter, is a multidimensional one.

Rather than seize upon a text as does Raciti, and then treat that as the lens through which to read Isaac's life and work, I aim to take a wider view when it comes to Isaac. To use the metaphor of the microscope, we must always change the scale by which we observe a phenomenon since there are always multiple levels above and below what we are studying at any particular time.263 What is not in the evidence concerning Isaac's life and

263 See Cyril Stanley Smith, "Metallurgical Footnotes to the History of Art," inA Search/or Structure: Selected Essays on Science, Art, and History (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1981), 242-305. 72

work looms even larger in some respects than what little we do know, and serves as my

response to Raciti's overreaching thesis.

There is more at stake in this study than correcting the inaccuracies of some

scholarly theory or other. Likewise, there are more important matters than refining

historical minutiae. I am convinced, rather, and take it as axiomatic that to read Isaac on

the basis of a flawed biography is little more than to misread him.

If we take as our starting point that Isaac was a principal supporter of Becket and,

consequently, lost his abbacy and suffered exile, then we have succeeded in doing much

more than misunderstanding some detail of Isaac's biography. We have ultimately

misread his works-his sermons in particular, as we shall see-and in the end produced a

faulty portrait and distorted reading ofIsaac's life and works.

While Raciti's theory may seem at first blush to deal with only the superficial, the

consequences run deeper. Chenu's comment concerning Innocent III and Lateran IV in

his magisterial Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century is appropriate here. "Yet

Innocent presided over, governed, and inspired a church which, with the twelfth-century

crisis behind it, now entered upon the most glorious century o/its history filled with

evangelical ardor, confident of reason's place in theology, and with its political power in

dec1ine.,,264 For Chenu, the twelfth century is the great summing up, as it were, ofthe

church's history. The twelfth century, in other words, was the prelude or the "crisis" for which the thirteenth was the resolution. What is important about the twelfth century­

according to Chenu, at any rate-is that the thirteenth succeeded it.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Isaac wrote little and does not appear to have been a major figure in his day is because he was not? In other words, Isaac did not have

264 Chenu, Nature, 329. 73 to be a major figure, in the same way that Geoffrey did not have to be a villain. "The forced exile theory provided an attractively dramatic reconstruction of sparsely recorded events," Dietz argues.

As with most good stories, it featured a villain and a hero. But ifthose events are reconstructed within the limits of the available data, Isaac's biography-so often labeled "mysterious"---does not make an especially exciting story. Isaac was not called on to be a hero, and Geoffrey did not earn the reputation ofa villain.265

Raciti requires them to be both but the evidence is lacking. What Raciti argues is tempting, however, since his thesis seems to answer everything and solve the riddle or make Isaac, the "great mystery," seem less mysterious. But Isaac was never that much of a mystery to begin with. He was, rather, a relatively minor character whose involvement in the Becket controversy did not cause any tragic consequences.

G. Summary

Scholarly interest in Isaac has blossomed in the twentieth century to such an extent that Bouyer's remark concerning Isaac as a "great mystery among the Cistercians" now seems outdated.266 While exact historical and biographical data remain elusive, the pioneering researches of Bliemetzrieder and Debray-Mulatier have established a basic chronology ofhis life; Milcamps' worked helped to unravel the knotty issues concerning

Isaac's oeuvre. Lubac's Catholicisme, so important in the development ofthe nascent

265 Dietz, "Exile," 153. 266 Bouyer, Cistercian Heritage, 161. 74 ressourcement movement within Roman Catholicism, made us of Isaac's Sermon 51 and undoubtedly exposed general, non-specialist readers to Isaac.

Numerous scholars, European as well as American, have thus produced a modest body of work concerning Isaac's thought and works. Throughout the years topics such as ecclesiology, Mariology, liturgy, and Issac's use of patristic sources have been explored.

The Second Vatican Council's use ofIsaac's Sermon 51 in Lumen Gentium is a testament to his importance in modem Roman Catholicism, as is the use made of the same sermon by the recent Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The same may be said for the use made ofIsaac's writings in the Liturgy ofthe Hours. The study ofIsaac's life and works-his sermons in particular-has been greatly improved by the publication of the critical edition of his sermons in the Sources chretiennes series. The

English-speaking world has benefited from the English translations of a good number of

Isaac's sermons by McCaffrey and Deme.

The issue of the exact nature ofIsaac's involvement in the controversy between

Becket and Henry and the related details is another topic that has occupied the attention of scholars over the years. Bliemetzrieder's early article identified the island ofRe as the remote location to which Isaac refers in his sermons. Debray-Mulatier demonstrated that even though Isaac petitioned for the monks of Citeaux and Pontigny to intervene on

Becket's behalf, Isaac does not appear to have suffered for it. She also argued for a relatively early date for the founding of Notre Dame des Chateliers on Re.

Raciti's influential and thorough study of Isaac's sermons with the intention of collecting biographical information from them continues to exert its influence even today.

Raciti argued, inter alia, that Isaac's political fortunes were lost due to his support of 75

Becket's cause against Henry. In the aftermath of the Cistercian Order's withdrawal of

hospitality and Becket's departure from Pontigny, Geoffrey moved against Isaac who was

ultimately forced into exile and subsequently died in disgrace on Re. While Raciti would

later modify his view by eliminating Geofrey's role, his theory would remain practically

unchanged: Isaac's time on Re, which coincided with the foundation ofNotre Dame des

Chfiteliers, occurred toward the end ofhis life and amounted to a forced exile following

the loss ofhis abbacy.

Salet's and McGinn's subsequent studies, although not uncritical of Raciti's

theory, accepted Raciti's basic outline and chronology. For both, a forced exile on Re as

a consequence ofIsaac's support ofBecket was a given. It was not until Garda's study

nearly 25 years later that Raciti's theory was seriously challenged. Garda discovered a

cache ofarchival material that seemed to indicate that Isaac, in fact, died as the abbot of

Stella; other material suggested an early date for the foundation ofNotre Dame des

Chateliers. Both of these, according to Garda, undermined Raciti's argument and

presented a view of Isaac not as the victim ofpersecution due to his support ofBecket,

but rather as a medieval abbot who ended his days in peace.

Gastaldelli and Dietz followed Garda in further questioning Raciti, the former

arguing against Geoffrey's involvement as well as Raciti's forced exile theory and the

latter arguing against Raciti's use ofIsaac's sermons as sources ofbiographical and

historical information.

Having set the scholarly foundation on which I am basing this study-both those scholars with whom I agree and those with whom I take issue at certain points-I have made clear where I converge and diverge with those scholars who have covered Isaac in 76 the past. While I am indebted to them all, I follow Garda, Gastaldelli and Dietz in particular in their criticism ofRaciti. Like them I take issue with Raciti's attempt to cull

Isaac's sermons for historical and biographical information. I also dispute Raciti's argument that Isaac's time on Re amounted to a forced exile due to his diminishing political fortunes.

Unlike Garda, Gastaldelli or Dietz, however, I locate Isaac's sermons in the monastic context whence they came. In so doing, I argue that Isaac may appear less mysterious. More important, the significance ofIsaac's sermons is fully realized, namely, as the product of a monk for monks, reflecting as they inevitably do the world in which they lived and worked. We are able to approach, ifnot hear, Isaac's sermons the way in which the elusive abbot of Stella intended. 77

Chapter II. Research Methods

A. Introduction and Overview

My research provides a previously missing piece in understanding Isaac's role in the Becket controversy. While certain scholars have broached the topic, it has not been explored fully or at least in the way in which I am doing it in my study. Raciti's theory continues to dominate but it provides a limited way oflooking at Isaac's sermons and understanding his role.

Thus far in my study I have described Isaac's life and works as well as the literature on Isaac, in particular that which pertains to the Becket controversy. In this chapter I look specifically at the Becket controversy and Isaac's place in it. Following this I describe the historical background against which the controversy occurred, paying particular attention to the Investiture Controversy and the development and significance ofthe Order of Cistercians. Finally, I describe my collection and analytical strategies, explaining the specific documents I shall use to prove my argument and explain how I am criticizing previous scholarship for arguing differently. 78

B. Historical Background to Becket Controversy

1. Thomas Becket's Significance

The story ofBecket is well known.267 Even in the years immediately following

his murder in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170, tales ofhis life and especially

his "martyrdom" at the hands offour ofHenry's knights proliferated, as did accounts of

miracles worked at his tomb. Becket's life is one ofpassion, intrigue and above all

power politics in the rough and tumble world oftwelfth-century England. How the

former friend ofWilliam the Conqueror's great-grandson (i.e., Henry) could become his

fierce enemy so quickly is a story that continues to fascinate.

Indeed, Becket's sudden transformation from worldly secular bureaucrat to pious

cleric is redolent ofthe Lives ofthe Saints or other hagiography. "Thomas's had not

been a model life," Barlow reports, adding that "his notorious faults had given a handle to

his enemies and been a trial to his friends; and the transformation of a supremely worldly man into a stiff-necked prelate, a trouble-maker, who in the end seemed almost to invite martyrdom, was for some hard to forgive, for many hard to understand. ,,268

While Becket may no longer be the polarizing figure he had been, interest in his life, death and legacy has not diminished. "Becket's name has remained in the folk memory, so that even ifthe average citizen could not date him or say much about his outlook, character or ideas, many would probably be able to say that he was murdered 'in

267 Anne Duggan observes with marked understatement: "It is highly unlikely that any Canterbury prelate from the last century will be so remembered in 800 years' time." Anne Duggan, Thomas Becket (Reputations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 1. 268 Barlow, Becket, 1. 79 the cathedral,", writes Anne Duggan. "Stripped down to its bare essentials, the Becket story is a tale ofheroic resistance to the point ofsuffering a bloody and public murder at the hands ofwhat learned contemporaries called 'the public power'-that is, the

State."Z69 Indeed, Duggan's recent biography, Thomas Becket (2004),270 adds to the considerable corpus of literature on Becket with her attempt to ferret out the reality of

Becket as opposed to the myths that have grown up around him.

It is my purpose neither to provide a full biography of Becket nor navigate between the factual and hagiographical. Rather, I intend to describe succinctly the life of

Becket and in particular his clash with Henry. Becket is not remembered for his achievements, much less his brilliance. The brevity of his time as archbishop of

Canterbury and the time in which he served kept him from being remembered as a great churchman in terms ofhis intellect or literary output. The polarizing nature ofhis character and service, however, undoubtedly led to interest in his life.271

269 Duggan, Becket, 1. T. S. Eliot's play, Murder in the Cathedral (1935), and the Peter Glenville film, Becket (1964)-the latter featuring Richard Burton in the leading role-testify to the contemporary public's continued interest in the flawed and ultimately doomed prelate. 270 See note 264, supra. 271 Duggan observes: "IfCatholics could see St. Thomas as a Catholic icon, to Anglicans he was a Roman Catholic idol, a representative ofthe papal and clerical power that they rejoiced in having defeated in the days of the eighth Henry, and which many seemed to fear might be reinstated if any concessions were made to the remnant of fully practicing Catholics (called recusants, because they refused to take the Oaths of Supremacy) still surviving." Ibid., 242. 80

2. Biography and Background of Thomas Becket

Becket was a Londoner by birth, born in that city on 21 December, probably in

the year 1120.172 His parents, Gilbert and Matilda, were Normans and surnamed Beket.

They were not members ofthe aristocracy. "Whatever the original name of Beket, it was

not an aristocratic type of surname," Barlow asserts. "Nor was it necessarily

hereditary.,,273 Becket himself probably never used his surname. When he left London

for school he was Thomas of London until he entered and subsequently rose through the

secular and ultimately ecclesiastical ranks. Barlow notes that "there is no evidence that

Gilbert's son ever employed the name; and when it was used of him, it was probably in

derision, an allusion to his non-noble origins. After he had left his birthplace he was

Thomas of London until he could qualify his name by his office-archdeacon, chancellor

or archbishop. ,,274

We are ill-informed when it comes to Becket's early years and education.

"Among his biographers are men who could have heard him talk, or questioned him,

about his youth-or, indeed, found informants after his death," Barlow reports. "But

they chose to pass over this period as quickly as possible. It may not have been one of

Thomas's favourite subjects, either as chancellor or as archbishop, and it must have

272 Duggan observes: "There was far from unanimity about Becket's age on his death and hence about his date of birth, with suggestions ranging from 1115 to 1123." Ibid.,271n.2. Note that Duggan follows Raymonde Foreville and Barlow. See Barlow, Becket, 10, 281n.1. 273 Barlow, Becket, 12. 274 Ibid. Note the following from Barlow concerning Becket's surname: "But much less tolerable is the 'it Becket' surname, which seems to have been a post-Reformation invention, and from which Thomas should be spared." Ibid. Barlow also calls attention to Becket's seal: "His personal seal, which he had probably acquired while in Theobald's household, was an antique gem showing a naked figure helmeted and resting against a pillar, with the legend 'Sigillum Tome Lund'-the seal of Thomas of London." Ibid., 38. 81

furnished little grist for the hagiographical mill.',275 What little can be obtained from the

biographical-cum-hagiographical information at our disposal is that Becket was sent to

the Augustinian priory at Merton in Surrey at around age 10.276

When Becket was 20 he spent about a year at Paris. About Becket's time in Paris

we are, again, at a loss to offer much specific information. Barlow calls this period in

Becket's life as "the mysterious Paris episode" and reports:

It is most difficult, however, on the scanty evidence available, to be sure why Thomas went to Paris. The only anecdote concerning this period is furnished by the Saga [i.e., the Icelandic Thomas Saga Erkibyskups] and, since most of it is derived from an unrelated Mary miracle story, is in all parts a complete fabrication. When we consider the interest which the next generation of Paris masters took in the martyr and their sympathy for his cause, it is strange that we know of only one person, Everlin, abbot of St. Lawrence at Liege (1161-83), who later claimed to have met the Londoner at Paris; even John of Salisbury seems never to have alluded to any acquaintance with him at this time.277

What we can say is that Becket never became a magister. Again, from Barlow:

"Thomas was never styled a master. Either, then, he was not a serious student at Paris, a

dilettante, who, perhaps on Richer's advice, went simply to add more polish to his

manners-even improve his French-or something went wrong. ,,278

275 Ibid., 16. 276 The school at Merton was run by the Canons Regular ofS1. Augustine, a movement that received official approval at Lateran synods in 1059 and 1063. About the canons regular, Barlow has this to say: "Canons regular had lately become popular in those circles which founded religious communities, because these clerks, although observing a quasi-monastic rule, operated more in the world than Benedictine monks and included in their ministry the education of the people and the care of the sick. These aims were admired by the more progressive members of the English upper classes. The royal court patronized the Augustinians; and the newer aristocracy, the rich citizenry and some bishops ensured the rapid spread ofthe order in the first half ofthe twelfth century." Ibid., 17-8. See also Chenu, Nature, 202­ 38, in particular 213-30. 277 Barlow, Becket, 20. 278 Ibid., 21. Barlow refers to Richer II of Laigle, a Norman nobleman who lived with the Bekets for a time when he was in London. Edward Grim records in his vita an incident when Richer and the young Becket were out hawking, during which Becket fell into a stream and was rescued by Richer. See Materials 2:359-61. About Becket's education Barlow states: "Thomas's rather sketchy education caused the biographers some difficulty...Even ifhe had been an inattentive schoolboy, in ten years he must have 82

While Gilbert and Matilda enrolled their son in an Augustinian priory and Becket received the tonsure, there is no reason to believe that Gilbert had an ecclesiastical career in mind for Becket.279 Rather, Gilbert seems to have had a secular career in mind for his son. From early 1143 until 1145, Gilbert got Becket ajob working as a clerk for the wealthy Londoner (and possible kinsman), Osbert Huitdeniers. At some point in 1145,

Becket was working in the household of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury (and possible kinsman as well), as a clerk.280

Becket had now entered a world of greater power but an ecclesiastical one as well. While Becket's biographers are unanimous that he lived a celibate life even in his youth, Becket was not known for a terribly religious way oflife in his youth, even when he entered Theobald's retinue. Such, however, was not necessary. Barlow observes that

"(a) religious conversion was not required as a preliminary to entrance into an archiepiscopal court. More likely Theobald was regarded simply as an alternative patron, an even greater lord, who for some reason or other had now just come within reach.,,281

gone through the whole curriculum at a modest level and acquired some knowledge ofthe seven liberal arts: the trivium-Latin grammar, rhetoric (the art ofpublic speaking and letter writing) and dialectic (logic, or the art of reasoning)-and also the slightly more advanced quadrivium-the mathematical subjects which could have been more to his taste, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music." Ibid., 21-2. Barlow, however, goes on to say: "After 1155, however, he operated at the directorial level where he hardly required detailed technical expertise. He always kept a large household to serve him and provide the practical skills. His contribution was judgement, vision and imagination. What can fairly be said is that he was at least as well educated as the average bishop who owed his position to having served the king as clerk. He was equipped to succeed, after a little extra training, in all the posts he held before the archbishopric." Ibid.,22. 279 Barlow writes: "It was not unusual to put an only son into the church; and Thomas was not, as might have been the case with a Benedictine monastery, given as a child oblate. The boy would have been tonsured, for almost all scholars were clerks; but the tonsure and even subsequent minor orders did not prevent a man from marrying or engaging in any other secular activity. From Gilbert's later behaviour it would not seem that in 1130 he was looking very far ahead. He was only making sure that the boy would be qualified to become a clerk in any kind of office or household. And it is most unlikely that Thomas gave any ofhis masters reason to believe that he had a vocation for the priesthood." Ibid., 18-9. See also Duggan, Becket, 8-12, concerning Becket's education. 280 See Barlow, Becket, 11 and 23, for Gilbert's possible relation to Theobald. 281 Ibid., 28. 83

Becket was at first intimidated by his better educated colleagues. He was frankly ill-equipped at first for the job. "At the beginning Thomas had no obvious qualifications in (diplomacy and law): fluent spoken Latin was required for diplomacy at the papal curia," Barlow writes. "Either he was taken on as a financial expert or on the basis ofhis charm and intelligence. There can be little doubt that he quickly found favour with the archbishop and that his entry into the household caused resentment. ,,282 Indeed, Becket was quickly sent to study law at Bologna as well as Auxerre.

By the end of 1154, Becket had clearly established himself as a keen and increasingly powerful man. When Theobald appointed his archdeacon, Roger de Pont l'Eveque, archbishop of York, he gave the vacant position of archdeacon of Canterbury to

Becket. This meant that Becket, now around 34 years old, was the recipient ofa number of benefices. In short, Becket was becoming a wealthy man; William fitzStephen records in his vita that Becket earned about £100 a year as archdeacon.283

Theobald, however, had greater things in mind for Becket. Only a few months after having appointed him archdeacon of Canterbury, Theobald recommended Becket to

Henry for the position ofroyal chancellor. How far Becket had come from his lackluster student days at Paris. Duggan declares that by this time Becket was "already experienced in conducting business at the highest levels in the Latin Church: he was a well-regarded clerk in the household of the archbishop of Canterbury; he had met Pope Eugenius III; he had established contacts with a significant number ofleading cardinals; and he had had a

282 Ibid., 33. "At first Thomas had a rough time," Barlow writes. "William fitzStephen is quite frank. In the archbishop's household were some very important and excellently educated clerks, many of whom were later promoted through the archbishop's favour to English bishoprics, and one, Roger of Pont l'Eveque, to the archbishopric of York. By their standards, he admits, Thomas was inferior in education. But, as good morals were superior to a good education, Thomas strove to excel them in virtue; and also he eventually became the best educated ofthem all." Ibid., 30. 283 Materials 3: 17. 84 taste of the highest legal learning then to be had.,,284 Barlow offers: "As Theobald's confidential agent he knew Canterbury and the whole English church, its personnel and institutions, inside out; and, through his association with John of Salisbury and Vacarius and his diplomatic missions to the papal curia, he had acquired not only a good knowledge of the Western church as large but also of its mainspring, the papal household.,,285

When Becket became the royal chancellor in early 1155, he continued to move upward in terms ofpower, prestige and wealth. "The chancellor was the chief ecclesiastical servant in the royal household and received the largest salary of all the household officials," Barlow writes. "He was in charge of the chapel royal and its subsidiary, the scriptorium, or writing office, and so was responsible for the church services at court and for the secretariat and royal archives.,,286 According to William fitzStephen, 52 clerks served Becket as royal chancellor.287 In 1158, when Henry sent

Becket to France to negotiate what Duggan relates "might have been the marriage ofthe century,,288-namely, that ofHenry's three-year-old son to Louis VII's infant daughter,

Margaret-fitzStephen records in his vita that Becket took with him more than 200 horsemen, 24 changes of clothes and eight wagons carrying, inter alia, beer and elaborate gold and silver table service.289

Becket proved not only his political acumen but his military worth as well to

Henry the following year and again in 1161 during campaigns in Toulouse and Vexin,

284 Duggan, Becket, 16. 285 Barlow, Becket, 39. 286 Ibid., 42. 287 Materials 3: 29. 288 Duggan, Becket, 19. 289 Materials 3: 29-33. 85 respectively. In the former, William fitzStephen records that Becket led a force of700 knights; at Vexin, Becket led 1,200 cavalry and 4,000 infantry.29o

On 18 April 1161, while Becket was on the Continent at Vexin, Theobald died.

Henry quickly determined that Becket should succeed him. "One need not agonize over why," Duggan avers. "Thomas had served him well as chancellor; as chancellor­ archbishop he would be able to serve him even better.,,291 We need not look solely at

Becket's achievements as chancellor. "In looking for a faithful archbishop," Barlow writes, "Henry also had one other, no less important, aim."

He was anxious to recover everywhere his "just" rights, many of which he believed had been lost during Stephen's reign. He was especially anxious to withstand and push back notorious ecclesiastical encroachments. The English church, in step with most others, had since 1100 become more distinct as a separate order, more self-sufficient in government, more connected, although not always willingly, with the reformed papacy, less subservient to the lay powers, more vocal, more self-confident.292

There was a genuine friendship between the young king and older chancellor.

Barlow observes: "Henry as much as Thomas had been an adventurer, with his fair share of reserves; he too was a man of considerable intelligence with a rather sketchy education; both were athletic, with a passion for field sports, and Thomas added warfare enthusiastically when he got the chance. King and chancellor, although always master and servant, became great friends.,,293 Their friendship, however, would not survive for much longer.

290 Ibid., 34-5. 29\ Duggan, Becket, 22. 292 Barlow, Becket, 68. 293 Ibid., 43. 86

3. Clash with Henry II

Becket was elected archbishop of Canterbury on 23 May 1162 and was consecrated as such on 3 June; he subsequently received the pallium on 10 August and resigned as chancellor. The latter was an early indicator ofthe trouble that was to come.

"We do not know whether Henry was hoping that he [i.e., Becket] would sell out the interests of the church or whether he was seen (being both a Canterbury man and a king's friend) as an agent ofan acceptable compromise," Colin Morris writes. "Both expectations were misplaced. Thomas emerged as an ardent champion ofthe liberties of the church. He resigned the chancellorship and annoyed Henry by refusing to co-operate about a number ofissues.,,294 Duggan continues:

If Thomas had continued as chancellor-archbishop, the ftrst offIce would almost certainly have absorbed the second, and the protection of the king's interests would have been the overriding priority ofboth. Henry wanted the able Becket to collaborate with him in the ecclesiastical fteld as he had so effectively in the secular, and the good relations between king and chancellor-archbishop could have lasted only as long as Becket discharged both offIces to the king's satisfaction...Rather than a search for even greater power, then, the resignation ofthe chancellorship should be seen as a conscientious choice: not the Satanic denial ofobedience to God, but Christ's rebuttal of Satan's temptation of earthly dominion.295

Almost immediately Becket caused trouble for Henry. Much has been made of

Becket's "conversion" upon becoming archbishop. Amy R. Kelly goes as far as to say that Becket had been "changed by a miracle of grace.,,296 Certainly there was a change

294 Colin Morris, The Papal Monarchy: The Western Church from 1050 to 1250 (Oxford History ofthe Christian Church; New York: Oxford University Press, 1991),234. 295 Duggan, Becket, 31-2. 296 Amy R. Kelly, Eleanor ofAquitaine and the Four Kings (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950), 116. 87

and an abrupt one at that. "(T)he transition from royal favourite to something

approaching public enemy ofthe state was to be swift and brutal," Duggan observes.297

But Becket's conversion-and certainly there was a marked change in the man­

must be dealt with reasonably. "Becket's conversion was predictable, given his

temperament and circumstances," writes Beryl Smalley. "The sources point to a

theatrical streak in him; but it is not play-acting to take ideas seriously.,,298 Zachery

Brooke observes:

People have often commented on the great change in him when he turned from chancellor into archbishop; but this was really less violent a change than the previous one from Theobald's clerk into chancellor. It was not so strange that he should easily have become the great archbishop. He had lived in an archbishop's circle, and moved in higher circles still when he went with Theobald to the papal Council at Rheims; then he had seen Theobald defy King Stephen and vindicate the archiepiscopal rights. At Rheims he may have pictured himself as Pope.299

The sincerity ofBecket's conversion notwithstanding, it was seen by his

contemporaries as the catalyst for his troubles with Henry. In a letter written barely two

years after his election as archbishop of Canterbury, John of Salisbury relates to Becket:

I urge and advise that, no matter what the twisted mind ofwicked men contrives against your honour, you should strive to obtain and keep the king's favour for yourself, as far as you can, according to God, because that is best for God's Church. I cannot see that you can achieve anything worthwhile as long as things remain as they are and the king opposes you in everything-especially since the Roman Church can receive nothing from you except words, and whatever loss it suffers on account of others it ascribes to you, because it will not allow you to be overthrown at the king's pleasure. 30o

297 Duggan, Becket, 33. 298 Smalley, Becket Controversy, 115. 299 Zachery Nugent Brooke, The English Church and the Papacy from the Conquest to the Reign ofKing John (Rev. ed.; Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 194. 300 Letter 29. Materials 5: 92; ET: Correspondence 1: 93. 88

Becket, however, was very much a man in a hurry, something that only contributed to his ultimate clash with Henry. Warren writes that Becket "filled the early months ofhis archepiscopate with grand gestures; that some ofthese gestures proved offensive to the king seems almost incidental-Becket was proving himself, justifying his election as archbishop to the electorate, striving to please those on whose respect his reputation would depend. ,,301

Becket seems to have been wholehearted in his commitment to his role as archbishop of Canterbury. He had long since shown that his tenacity as well as charm could more than make up for the inadequacies ofhis education. Smalley reports that

Becket "had equipped himself with all the sacred and profane learning needed to carry out his duties, on a generous interpretation ofthe latter." Smalley also notes that Becket

"was more interested in the Bible and its glosses and commentaries than in theology proper; that may betray Herbert's [i.e., Herbert of Bosham, Becket's confidant and teacher] influence. He specialized in works suitable for devotional reading and aids to preaching. ,,302

While he was neither theologically nor administratively brilliant, he was politically astute, moving quickly to assert the prerogatives ofthe church over and against those of the crown. This would prove to be his undoing. Indeed, in a letter to Becket from Gilbert Foliot, bishop of London, Gilbert reminds Becket:

(A) man of your prudence should have ensured that the disagreements gradually arising between the kingdom and you did not grow too serious, that the tiny spark did not flare up into so great a fire, to the ruin of many. It was managed differently, and from causes

301 Warren, Henry II, 455-6. 302 Smalley, Becket Controversy, 137. See ibid., 135-7, for Becket's library. 89 too numerous to list, disa~eements were multiplied, indignation was inflamed, and hatred firmly entrenched. 03

More to the point, at least as far as his biographers are concerned, Becket was an ascetic, truly one who had given up worldliness for the kingdom. This was not apparent to everyone following Becket's elevation to archbishop. Barlow observes that "whatever view is taken ofThomas's alleged secret life ofpiety, on the surface he was not only completely identified with Henry's policy and actions, but was seen to glory in some of those which were most unsuited to the clergy."

Indeed, Barlow continues, "(t)o elect as archbishop a worldling who only two years before had commanded troops on campaign and had taken part in the fighting was almost inconceivable. In his schooling, his career, his conduct and his general demeanour, Thomas was all that an archbishop should not be.,,304 Nevertheless, Becket's biographers-John ofSalisbury and Herbert of Bosham in particular-depict Becket as a hair-shirt wearing ascetic who slept little, ate even less and spent a good deal of his time and money on the poor.305

The causes ofthe clash between Becket and Henry were as much theological as political. Indeed, any neat division between the two is impossible. Becket, "the last

Gregorian" as Norman Cantor calls him,306 squared offagainst a king whose mind, according to Brooke, "was set on restoring the former royalauthority, and he began to

303 Letter 109. Materials 5: 526-7; ET: Correspondence 1: 507-9. 304 Barlow, Becket, 66. 305 See ibid., 79-81. 306 Nonnan Cantor, Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture in England, 1089-1135 (Princeton Studies in History 10; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958), 320. 90 press for a pledge from Becket that he would observe the old customs which his predecessors had observed.,,307

"The precise points at issue between Henry II and Becket fall into two principal categories," Charles Duggan writes, "relating especially to the wider freedom of the

Western Church under papal guidance and to the immunities of the English Church within the kingdom."

Freedom of appeals to Rome and the two-way traffic of intercommunication between England and the continent were the most crucial instances of the former; clerical immunity from secular jurisdiction, freedom of canonical elections, the rights of presentation to ecclesiastical benefices, and clerical incomes and properties were notable aspects ofthe latter. For the most part issues were not invented by Henry II...His concern with these matters was entirely understandable, since, like most secular rulers, he was accustomed within the traditions ofseveral centuries to a large measure ofpower over the Church in his kingdom.308

The differences between Henry and Becket were also very personal ones. The friendship between the two would be lost, the alliance severed. Henry proved to be as implacable and intransigent as Becket. While Warren declares that "Becket's behaviour in the first month of his archepiscopate is puzzling, for it seems at first sight gratuitously offensive to the king...(as if) he was deliberately picking a quarrel with the king," Henry was no stranger to twelfth-century power politics.309 Southern wryly observes that "(i)n

307 Brooke, English Church, 201. 308 Charles Duggan, Canon Law in Medieval England: The Becket Dispute and Decretal Collections (Collected Studies 151; London: Variorum Reprints, 1982),3. 309 Warren, Henry II, 453. Warren continues: "Perhaps this should not be surprising, for the process by which Thomas Becket became archbishop was the weakest spot in his armour as a champion of ecclesiastical liberty. At bottom his election was improper. It is true that canonical procedures were carefully observed: the election was made in due form by the monks and ratified by the bishops ofthe province. But everyone knew that he was made archbishop by the will of King Henry, and even the observances of the canonical decencies could provide no escape from the edict of Pope Adrian IV in 1156 prohibiting the consecration of a bishop 'who had not been freely elected and without previous nomination by the secular power' [quoting Regesta Pontificum Romanorum II, no. 10139]," ibid. 91 the time of Henry II and Archbishop Becket, John of Salisbury could still complain of ignorant people who believed that the dignity ofpriesthood belonged to the royal office, and it is possible that Henry II did something to encourage this belief.,,31o

In the end, the clash defies simple explanation. "Almost every newcomer into office causes an unwelcome disturbance," Barlow notes.311 Becket's election, however, soon proved to be most unwelcome for Henry. "The Becket Dispute was not merely a clash ofpersonalities," Charles Duggan writes, "but a particular quarrel symptomatic of deep-seated conflicts over the nature ofauthority and its practical applications in

Christian society."

It echoes and prefigures numerous similar crises in the history of the Christian Church. It has its immediate and contextual interest, but it serves also as a temporary expression of a tension ofuniversal and lasting significance. No approach to the Becket controversy will be satisfactory which does not penetrate the surface crust of local and simply individual mterests. an d arguments. 312

4. Death and Aftermath

Henry's portentous statement "What miserable drones and traitors have 1 nourished and promoted in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born clerk!" (as related in Edward Grim's vita) was significant in ways he could scarcely imagine.313 Southern remarks: "Thomas Becket

310 Southern, Making, 94. 311 Barlow, Becket, 83. 312 Duggan, Canon Law, 367. 313 Materials 2: 429; cf. ibid., 1: 121-3 and 3: 127-9. See also Barlow, Becket, 235. 92

was a man about whom opinions were sharply divided in his lifetime, and these

controversies were not silenced by his death."

We know that there were men who continued to look on him as a traitor, and we are told that the masters of Paris disputed the point, a certain master Roger asserting that he had been worthy of death, while the well-known master Peter Chanter maintained that he was a martyr for the liberty of the church. "But"---our informant adds-"Christ has solved the problem by the manifold and great signs with which He has glorified him." The whole ofChristendom concurred in this judgment.314

Almost immediately after Becket's murder eyewitnesses and others produced a

plethora of vitae. "The murder was so shocking and the case of such interest that at least

ten men were inspired to write about it within a decade of the event," reports Barlow,

"followed by two or three more, including Herbert of Bosham, in the 1180s.,,315 Almost

immediately as well there were pilgrimages to Canterbury following reports of

miracles. 316 Becket was canonized on 21 February 1173 and later that year on the third

anniversary ofhis death, Becket's feast was celebrated at the cathedral in which he was

murdered.317

314 Southern, Making, 255. Southern here quotes Materials 2: 291-2. 315 Barlow, Becket, 2. These include the vitae ofJohn of Salisbury (1171), Edward Grim (1171-2), Benedict of Peterborough (1173-4), William of Canterbury (1173-4), William fitzStephen (1173-4), Guernes ofPoint-Saint-Maxence (1172-4), Robert of Cricklade (1173-4), Alan of Tewkesbury (1176), Benet ofSt. Albans (1184), and Herbert of Bosham (1184-6). Additionally, there are two anonymous vitae from 1172-3 and 1176-7, respectively; the Quadrilogus 11 (a conflation of the vitae of John of Salisbury, Benedict of Peterborough, William of Canterbury, and Alan ofTewkesbury) from 1198-9, which was followed in the thirteenth century by the Quadrilogus I (an expanded vita containing material from Edward Grim's and William fitzStephen's vitae); and the Thomas Saga Erkibyskups, an Icelandic translation of Robert of Cricklade's vita from ca. 1200. 316 For the latter, see the two large collections of miracles attributed to Becket by William of Canterbury and Benedict of Peterborough (both from 1174), respectively, in Materials 1: 137-546 and 2: 21-281. 317 By the time of the English Reformation, the pendulum had shifted: Becket the holy man and posthumous healer had become Becket the traitor and pariah. See Robert E. Scully fascinating article, "The Unmaking of a Saint: Thomas Becket and the English Reformation," Catholic Historical Review 86 (2000): 579-602. 93

5. Investiture Controversy

The literature concerning the Investiture Controversy is vast and the subject itself, falling as it does outside the limits ofthis study, is far too complex for me to treat extensively here and now. Some discussion, however, is warranted in order to provide context for the Becket controversy and Isaac's involvement in it. What follows, then, is a brief overview ofthe issues that pertain to the Investiture Controversy, both on the

Continent and in England itself.

John Howe observes that "(t)he first 'reformation' began in the mid-eleventh century.,,318 The "reformation" to which Howe refers is the Investiture Controversy that centers around the person and reforms of Pope Gregory VII (ca. 1020-85). Gerd

Tellenbach surely does not overstate Gregory's importance when he writes:

Gregory stands at the greatest-from the spiritual point ofview perhaps the only­ turning-point in the history ofCatholic Christendom; in his time the policy of converting the world gained once and for all the upper hand over the policy of withdrawing from it: the world was drawn into the Church, and the leading spirits of the new age made it their aim to establish the "right order" in this united Christian world.319

Southern likewise does not risk overstating the case when he refers to "(t)he many-sided 'Investiture controversy'" as "the first major dispute in modern history." He continues:

318 John Howe, "The Nobility's Refonn of the Medieval Church," AHR 93 (1988): 317. 319 Gerd Tellenbach, Church, State and Christian Society at the Time ofthe Investiture Contest, trans. R.F. Bennett (Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 27; Studies in Medieval History 3; Toronto and Buffalo: University ofToronto Press, 1991), 164. 94

The discussion rolled and reverberated round Europe for half a century. It was in these years that the characteristic features ofthe medieval church began to be clear; and on the other side, arguments were heard, which were drowned in the rising tide ofpapalism and disappeared for nearly three hundred years-arguments in favor of a married clergy and an episcopate not subject to Rome; arguments supporting the rights ofthe lay ruler over the Church and asserting the superiority ofthe kingly over the episcopal office, which were to burst out with violent strength at the time ofthe Reformation.320

The "right order" to which Tellenbach refers amounted to what Charles Duggan calls "the liberty ofthe Church in its jurisdictional autonomy, while in the realm of ideas it asserted its superiority over lay power.,,321 Duggan elsewhere reports that "(i)n its narrowest and technical meaning, the Investiture Contest was the product of a papal reaction against long centuries of secular control ofthe Church at all levels, exercised chiefly through a decisive voice in the selection of ecclesiastical officials.,,322

Chief among the issues during the Investiture Controversy was that of lay or secular control ofthe church, in particular the lay investiture ofbishops. "(T)o the clerical reformers," Duggan relates, "it seemed an intolerable abuse that bishops and other ecclesiastics should be invested with the symbols of their rank, dependent essentially on its spiritual functions, by secular persons, while...secular rulers felt unable to distinguish so sharply the spiritual and material competence ofthe holders ofthese important positions.,,323 This issue was, as we shall see, an important one in Becket's dispute with Henry.

In the end, the Investiture Controversy was a prelude to myriad issues on the

Continent as well as England. Again, from Duggan: "However important the Investiture

320 Southern, Making, 133-4. 321 Duggan, Canon Law, 368. 322 Charles Duggan, "From the Conquest to the Death ofJohn," in The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages, ed. C.H. Lawrence (Sutton History Paperbacks; Stroud and Gloucestershire: Sutton, 1999),69. 323 Ibid., 70. 95

Controversy appears in political history, it was merely symptomatic of far deeper

problems in the interplay of secular and ecclesiastical forces in the period. It was

[quoting Tellenbach] 'a struggle for right order in the world.",324

That the issues with which Gregory concerned himself during the Investiture

Controversy would recur is less an indicator of his leadership than it is the sea change in

attitudes that occurred during his time. The matter of lay investiture and, broadly

speaking, the relationship between lay and secular power in the church would not be

solved so easily. Indeed, it proved to be a Gordian Knot over the centuries, the

ramifications of which could not have been seen by Gregory.325 Geoffrey Barraclough

remarks that "it might be said that Gregory VII led the church into a blind alley." He

continues:

The attempt to bring the state into subordination to the church, with its inevitable corollary, the immersion of the papacy in politics, brought about a strong reaction, in which the most influential reformers of the next generation played a leading part. No one was more outspokenly critical ofthe direction of papal policy than 81. Bernard, who became abbot of Clairvaux in 1118; but the whole Cistercian movement, with its hostility to study and particularly to the new canon law, and its respect for episcopal authority, which Gregory VII's policy had weakened, was a sign of the rejection of Gregorian pretensions. With the rise of Clteaux reform was sought, once again, not by conquest of the world, but by flight from the world. 326

324 Duggan, Canon Law, 71. Duggan continues: "This new religious zeal.. .conditioned the general state of the Church as well as the minds of Damian and Gregory VII. It played a vital role in effecting a wider movement ofreform, and was in the event itself further stimulated by it." Ibid. 325 Concerning the durability and ultimate outcome of the Investiture Controversy, Southern remarks: "On both sides there was a great deal of crude and violent talk, and endless pillorying and misrepresentation of opponents; every consideration which could vex and complicate an issue was drawn in at some time or other. But in the main the victory-alike in consistency of thought, seriousness of purpose and practical success-lay with the adherents of the new views. The position of Rome as the legislative and administrative centre of the Church was established; the immunity ofclergy from secular jurisdiction and the special position of church lands were recognized, at least in part; the most offensive features in the election and investing of bishops disappeared. To this extent the ideal of a spiritual church became a practical reality. But in the world, which was thrown out ofthe door, came in at the window. The experience of the hundred years after the end ofthe Investiture controversy falsified many of the hopes of the eleventh cent idealists." Southern, Making, 134. 326 Geoffrey Barraclough, The Medieval Papacy (New York and London: Norton, 1979), 90. 96

The English church was by and large spared from the tumultuous years during

which the Investiture Controversy raged, although its relationship with Rome was already

a long-standing one at the time. Indeed, Uta-Renate Blumenthal reports that "relations between Anglo-Saxon England and Rome had been close ever since Pope Gregory the

Great (590-604) had sent Augustine, who before his departure had been prior of

Gregory's own monastery of St. Andrew in Rome, as missionary to King Aethelbert of

Kent.,,327

England's relative isolation from the Continent was one reason for its lack of direct involvement in the conflict. Tellenbach refers to the English church's "tendency towards isolationism as far as the papacy was concerned, and this could be sustained the more easily because ofthe distance involved."

Papal claims to lead or determine church affairs met with either rejection or incomprehension. In general king and episcopate showed a united front and managed church affairs without reference to the popes or the legates, in a manner which had to be accepted in Rome given the prevailing circumstances. It was not possible to enforce strict compliance with the decrees of papal councils. English bishops did not appear at foreign councils; they were not even present at the council of Clermont in 1095. The popes had to content themselves with the payment ofPeter's Pence.328

327 Uta-Renate Blumenthal, The Investiture Controversy: Church and Monarchy from the Ninth to the Twelfth Century (University of Pennsylvania Press Middle Ages Series; Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988), 142. 328 Gerd Tellenbach, The Church in Western Europefrom the Tenth to the Early Twelfth Century, trans. Timothy Reuter (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 257. Tellenbach continues: "In the era of William the Conqueror and Lanfranc of Canterbury the pope had exercised little influence in England. William 11 at first recognized neither Urban 11 nor Clement llI. The attempt to instrumentalise the king's conflict with Bishop William of Durham for papal purposes proved futile; so did the attempt to use Bishop Herbert ofThetford and Winchester to bring about a rapprochement." Ibid.,272. Note as well Tellenbach's comment in Church, State and Christian Society at the Time ofthe Investiture Contest: "The relations of the curia with England are typical of the way in which the popes had to concentrate their efforts on the most dangerous opponents, and in consequence to modify or even temporarily to abandon their demands in other directions. They refrained at first from attacking royal theocracy and the proprietary system in England, not only because the Conqueror did at least combat simony and priestly marriage with energy, but also because Gregory hoped that the king would hold 97

Another reason was that by the time of the Becket controversy, Henry and his two

predecessors had assumed and upheld a view of the church and their power in relation to

it in a way that was nearly unchallenged by the English church. Since the time of

William the Conqueror's (ca. 1027-87) ascent to the English throne in 1066 and the rule

ofhis progeny, strong rule by the king and, more to the point, his involvement in

ecclesiastical affairs had become de rigeur. Blumenthal reports that "William the

Conqueror, his sons, and perhaps his grandson, Henry II, dominated until 1170 what

could be called a national church.,,329 Blumenthal continues:

Duke William of Normandy set out to conquer England not so that he might reform the church but so that he might claim the kingdom as his inheritance. Among William's preparations was an embassy to Rome to request papal support for his enterprise. He received help from Gregory VII, who was then an archdeacon. When Gregory became pope he pointedly reminded William that he was responsible for Pope Alexander II's giving his blessing to the enterprise despite opposition at the curia because ofthe expected bloodshed. As ruler ofNormandy, William was in firm control ofthe church.33o

As king of England, William's understanding ofthe church and the limits of his

authority in ecclesiastical affairs was decisive for himself as much as for his successors.

England from him as a fief, and in consequence did not wish to arouse his antagonism." Ibid., 123-4. Blumenthal states: "Roman influence did not increase markedly until the anarchy of Stephen's reign (1135­ 54). In fact, only the murder ofArchbishop Thomas Becket by overzealous courtiers of King Henry II prevented the renewed isolation of the English church in the twelfth century." Blumenthal, Investiture Controversy, 159. 329 Blumenthal, Investiture Controversy, 153. 330 Ibid., 146. Charles Duggan observes: "Axiomatically, a strong ruler, as was William I or Henry II in England, resisted ecclesiastical pretensions with greater success than would otherwise have been the case; and, conversely, the problems confronting a given pope, such as Alexander III in his dangerous contest with Frederick I, induced a temporary or diplomatic abatement ofthe widest papal claims and an opportunity which secular rulers elsewhere could be expected to exploit. Nevertheless, despite all such vicissitudes of papal fortune, the total story is one of gradual and inexorable papal advance throughout the period, within which the power ofthe papacy over the Church as a whole, as over the Church in England in particular, increased beyond all previous recognition, whatever qualification ofthis judgement may seem appropriate in any narrower context." Duggan, "Conquest," 68-9. 98

Part and parcel ofhis duties as king was the defense ofthe church and ensuring unity.

David Charles Douglas explains how "in the case ofa disputed papal election no pope was to be recognized within his realm without his consent; no papal letter was to be received without his permission; no ecclesiastical council within his kingdom was to initiate legislation without his approval; and no bishop must excommunicate any of his officials or tenants-in-chief without his leave. It was a clear-cut position, but it was traditional rather than anti-papal.,,33I Morris likewise reports: "In England the right ofthe king to participate in episcopal elections was clear, and although it is not certain whether the Anglo-Saxon kings invested with the pastoral staff, their Norman successors undoubtedly did so after 1066."332

William's perception of his role was aided in no small part by the fact that at his coronation on Christmas Day 1066, he was anointed as well. "Unction was reserved for priests and kings," Douglas writes. "No Norman duke had hitherto been anointed.

William's unction therefore marked a stage in the growth of his authority, and it thus attracted the attention of contemporaries...In this manner was the change of dynasty in

England formally legitimized by one ofthe most solemn ofthe rites ofthe Church.,,333

William's coronation as well as anointing undoubtedly made an indelible impression of his successors, which just as surely affected their understanding of their office. "Coronation elevated the king above all his subjects but it also involved him in solemn promises," Robert Bartlett observes. "These could be invoked in political

331 David Charles Douglas, William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact upon England (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964), 342. 331 Morris, Papal Monarchy, 23. 333 Douglas, William the Conqueror, 255-6. Douglas continues: "Two contrasted interpretations of the unction might in fact be made. It might be regarded as a recognition of existing rights pertaining to the divine institution ofroyalty, or it might be held as the source ofthose rights. It gave the king a place apart from the laity, and might even vest him with sacerdotal powers. But it might also be held to make his status dependent upon a religious service performed by the clergy." Ibid., 256. 99

discussion. Thus, during the course of the dispute between Henry II and Thomas Becket,

the archbishop urged the king 'to be mindful ofthe promise you made, when you were

consecrated and anointed king, to preserve the liberty ofGod's church.',,334

The brief and chaotic rule of Stephen (ca. 1096-1154), however, led to the stronger

assertion ofthe English church's prerogatives and privileges than in the past. Stephen's

persecution ofRoger of Salisbury (d. 1139) alienated many in the church; Stephen also

allowed the church considerable jurisdiction, building upon the leeway granted by his

predecessor, Henry I. "In the course ofthe reign [of Henry I] the Church had established

a real ascendency," R. H. C. Davis asserts. "At Stephen's accession it had demanded and

obtained its liberty.,,335

The English church did not find itself in the midst ofthe polemical and often violent context ofmany of its counterparts on the Continent. "In Germany the investiture controversy had resulted in a great flood ofpolemical literature on the freedom ofthe church, lay investiture and characteristics ofkingship-the first instance of organized propaganda in medieval history," remarks Cantor. "In England," he continues, "the volume of theoretical literature defending or attacking the Gregorian reforms was much

334 Robert Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225 (The New Oxford History of England; Oxford and New York: Clarendon and Oxford University Press, 2000), 127; quoting Materials 5:282. On the matter ofthe anointing ofkings, note Douglas's comment: "It was inevitable that at the time ofthe Investitures Contest, those ecclesiastics who were concerned to subordinate secular authority to the Church should seek to deny that royal unction was an indelible sacrament, giving the king the status ofpriest, and though the papalist case in this matter was not to be fully set out until the time of Innocent III, most ofthe arguments he reviewed had been stated by Hildebrandine writers during the previous century. A denial that royal unction was a sacrament was, indeed, implicit in the claim of Gregory VII to be able to depose anointed kings, and it is therefore not surprising that when in the course ofthe twelfth century the sacraments ofthe church were defined, graded, and limited to seven, royal unction found no place among them, though the consecration ofpriests ofcourse remained." Ibid., 257. 335 R. H. C. Davis, King Stephen: 1135-1154 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967), 127. Concerning Henry I, Tellenbach remarks: "The early years of Henry I's reign were marked by serious tensions over the question ofepisciopal investiture and homage, though these were eased by the pope's tactical flexibility and by the courteous respect Henry I and Anselm showed to one another. In the treaty ofL'Aigle in the summer of 1105 the king agreed to renounce investiture conditionally." Tellenbach, The Church in Western Europe, 272. 100 less than on the Continent, only because the English investiture controversy lasted for half a decade instead ofhalf a century, as in Gennany.,,336

The overriding issues ofthe Investiture Controversy, however, were not foreign to the English church. The matter oflay investiture ofbishops was neither unknown nor irrelevant. It had not risen to the level that it had elsewhere. The English Investiture

Controversy, therefore, was much more short-lived and far less traumatic than in other countries. Indeed, at the time of Becket's controversy with Henry the issues had already been addressed. In any case, they were not of enonnous importance that they had been elsewhere in previous decades.

The issues mattered nonetheless and, as Charles Duggan writes, "(T)he refonns of the English Church in the later-eleventh century and the introduction of the Investiture

Dispute into England are matters which are naturally and validly linked with the policies ofthe first three Nonnan kings; but the crucial and epoch-making changes for the whole of the Western Church coincided in time with the Nonnan Conquest ofEngland; and, in one fonn or another, the issues they posed would certainly have been raised in England, independently ofthe change ofthe English dynasty.,,33?

The controversy between Becket and Henry was ultimately a contest between two powerful men neither of whose stubbornness would give way to the other's. Warren, as we have seen, believes Becket to have been needlessly confrontational and provocative, as ifhe had been bent on "deliberately picking a quarrel with the king.,,338 Barlow argues

336 Cantor, Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture, 168. 337 Duggan, "Conquest," 66. 338 Warren, Henry II, 453. 101 that Becket's behavior at the outset ofhis becoming archbishop was due to his desire to

"out-bishop the rest" ofthe bishops.339

Duggan interprets the matter differently, however, and does so in a way that sheds more light on the clash between archbishop and king. Duggan sees Becket's first few months in office not as the newly-minted archbishop spoiling for a fight with Henry only too happy to oblige, but rather as Becket's "attempts to discharge the normal duties of the archiepiscopal office in an atmosphere ofmounting harassment and opposition.,,34o

Bartlett summarizes the harassment and opposition to which Duggan refers in the following:

Although Becket had been Henry's chancellor and the two men had been friends, as soon as he became archbishop in 1162 a series of disputes began, reminiscent in their mixture ofthe petty and the principled ofthose between Anselm and Rufus. There were quarrels over the property ofthe church ofCanterbury, the details ofthe royal taxation and the extent that clerks could be treated differently from lay people in the law courtS. 341

The issue of clerical immunity from secular courts was the main issue and where the battle lines between Becket and Henry had been drawn most distinctly. "Examples of tension between ecclesiastical and secular jurisdiction over crimes committed by the clergy were not new, or confined to Becket's pontificate," Duggan describes. "The core issue in these cases," he continues, "was the clerical claim to immunity from secular trial and punishment, but the question was not proactively raised by Thomas Becket. Like the problems relating to his lordship of Canterbury, it came with the territory; but, unlike

339 Barlow, Becket, 89. 340 Duggan, "Conquest," 36. 341 Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 404. 102 them, the jurisdictional issue had profound implications for the present and future relationship between the English Church and the monarchy.,,342

The Council and Constitutions of Clarendon, about which I have written previously,343 proved to be the catalyst for the clash between Becket and Henry that ultimately led to the former's murder. The 16 clauses declared at Clarendon in January

1164, Barlow elaborates, "are expressly recognized as being only a few of the important customs and dignities possessed by holy mother church, the lord king and the barons of the kingdom. They were selected presumably because they had a bearing on current matters at issue between the church and the secular authorities, and they form a heterogeneous and badly organized anthology.,,344

Whatever the Constitutions may lack in their organization, they reflect nevertheless what Henry understood to be his rights and prerogatives as king, and he aimed to have them set forth in writing for his posterity. "In this age of increasing literacy and increasing legal definition," Bartlett argues, "an attempt was made to put the king's view of the situation in writing, in a document to which the bishops would then subscribe. These Constitutions of Clarendon of 1164 were, in the eyes of Henry II, 'a record and acknowledgement of some ofthe customs and liberties and rights ofhis ancestors. ",345

342 Duggan, "Conquest," 39. Note Cantor's comment: "While Lanfranc opened the way for later developments by establishing separate ecclesiastical courts and by introducing continental canon law collections into England, as long as he lived there was no papal interference in the Anglo-Norman Church. The Archbishop believed that the crown should exercise jurisdiction even over excommunications. William I completely refused the Pope's demand for fealty, and Lanfranc not only rejected Gregory's repeated summonses to Rome, but even wavered in his allegiance to that Pope." Cantor, Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture, 31. 343 See Introduction, supra. 344 Barlow, Becket, 100. 345 Bartlett, Henry II, 403-4. 103

While Becket initially consented to the Constitutions, he quickly reneged. Henry was furious. Barlow described this as "the point ofno return for Henry. Not only had the events at Clarendon and their aftermath hardened his attitude towards Thomas, he had also had to swallow the bitter fruit of Thomas's ungrateful obstructions.,,346 Indeed, in the years following Clarendon up to Becket's death, few ofthe issues discussed in the

Constitutions would be resolved. Neither would budge and each became more implacable. "The Gregorian ideal of freedom of the church," Cantor discusses, "was never to be realized in England."

It was for this ideal that Becket struggled against Henry II, who attempted in the Constitutions of Clarendon of 1164 to reassert royal authority over the English Church after the laxity of Stephen's reign. By Becket's day, however, the Gregorian doctrines had long since become archaic, and not even the papacy supported him in his bitter controversy with the King and his episcopal colleagues. The papacy used Becket's martyrdom to expand its own jurisdiction over the English Church, but it was willing to leave most ofthe provisions ofthe Constitutions ofClarendon unchallenged.347

"In 1170 each side moved into a more extreme position," Morris observes.

"Henry secured the coronation as his heir ofhis son Henry, the ceremony being carried out by Archbishop Roger of York in the absence ofthe archbishop of Canterbury, whose right it was; and the pope threatened excommunication and interdict. Henry drew back from the brink and came to an agreement with Thomas as Freteval, but even then there was no real settlement of the issues.,,348

346 Barlow, Becket, 105-6. 347 Cantor, Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture, 320. Barlow states that even prior to Clarendon, "(f)rom the point ofview of the papal curia, Thomas was a liability, even a menace. There was little merit in his cause and all could see that he was a trouble-maker." Barlow, Becket, 97. 348 Morris, Papal Monarchy, 235. Bartlett reckons the cost of the dispute to the English Church as follows: "The Becket conflict then disrupted English ecclesiastical life for a decade, so that between 1163 and 1173 no new appointments were made to the episcopal bench." Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 401. 104

6. Cistercians

The Order of Cistercians (Ordo Cisterciensis) was one of several monastic reform movements that emerged in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. Founded by

Robert ofMolesme (ca. 1028-1111) in 1098 at the abbey of Citeaux near Dijon, France, the order's humble beginnings belie their massive importance. "The Cistercians occupy the central position in the spiritual life ofthe twelfth century," Southern observes. "(T)he productions ofthe monasteries of the older type had in general--despite the influence of

St. Anselm on a little group of disciples-a character too staid and stolid to exercise a widespread influence; and, at the other extreme ofthe religious life, the Carthusians moved in a world too remote and severe to communicate their power and originality of vision to a large circle. It was the Cistercian writers above all who communicated to the spiritual literature of the century the warmth and intimacy and movement, which twe1fth­ century audiences looked for as well in their serious as in their lighter moods.,,349

The early growth of the order was also not apparent at the beginning. "No impartial observer during the first 20 years of Cistercian history," Southern remarks,

"when the number of foundations rose from one to seven, could have predicted a rate of growth which in little over 50 years raised the total number to more than 300."350 "The first half of the twelfth century stands out, even in the Middle Ages, as a unique era of devotional enthusiasm, when monasticism turned into a mass movement of unparalleled

349 Southern, Making, 228. 350 R. W. Southern, Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (Penguin History ofthe Church 2; London: Penguin, 1970),253. 105

proportions," Louis J. Lekai observes.351 "There is no doubt that in the circumstances

Clteaux was bound to succeed," he continues. Lekai places responsibility for the success

of the order squarely upon Bernard's shoulders:

Its ascetic program was the epitome of everything contemporaries were looking for; it was organized under an inspiring and capable leadership and its constitution insured the cohesion of the movement in the event that it spread beyond the confines of Burgundy. Grandmont, Savigny, Grand Chartreuse and many similar reforms prospered with fewer potential assets than those of Citeaux. The amazing fact that the Cistercian Order virtually exploded and by the middle ofthe twelfth century possessed nearly 350 houses in every country of Europe, can be explained, however, only by the dynamic character and activity of the "man ofthe century," Saint Bernard ofClairvaux. The often voiced notion that he was the true founder of the Order is a pardonable exaggeration, but the fact that for centuries Cistercians were widely known as "Bernardines" was not without justification.352

Not without justification, perhaps, but there are additional reasons to which we

may refer in order to understand the early and striking achievements ofthe Cistercians.

One reason is that the order was a reaction to what the nascent Cistercians saw as the

excesses of the Cluny, e.g., the elaborate liturgies, eschewing ofmanual labor and ornate

architecture. All of this, they believed, carried them far from the life of simplicity and

poverty to which their monastic forbears were called.

Lekai notes, for example, Peter Damian's (ca. 1007-72) visit to Cluny in 1063 and

how "he observed that various offices were so prolonged that in a day's routine there was

scarcely half an hour left to engage the monks in conversation. At the same time he

351 Louis J. Lekai, The Cistercians: Ideals and Reality (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1977),33. For an excellent study of medieval devotion to Christ and the Mother of God, see Rachel Fulton, From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800-1200 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002). 352 Lekai, Cistercians, 33-4. 106 deplored the lack ofpenance and mortification, particularly in food and drink."m There is also Bernard's treatise from 1125, Apology to Abbot William, in which he rails against, inter alia, Clunaic architecture and "their expensive decorations and their novel images.,,354

Another reason was their desire to follow strictly and assiduously the Rule of

Benedict ofNursia (480-547) as well as its predecessors. The Rule or Regula Benedicti

(ca. 540) had become the standard rule ofmonastic life in the West and the Cistercians meant to live it and apply it as strenuously as possible. It had not, however, begun as such. In fact, it was not until the ninth century that the Rule became a rule for anywhere other than the monastery Benedict himself founded in Monte Cassino. The Rule nevertheless set the standard for Western monasticism and proved to be ofinestimable value for the Cistercians in particular.

Southern draws attention to the order's highly organized structure as being a reason for its early growth and success. "The Cistercian organization was one ofthe masterpieces ofmedieval planning," he writes. "In a world ruled by a complicated network ofauthorities often at variance with each other, the Cistercian plan presented a single strong chain ofauthority from top to bottom."

There was a single supreme legislative body in the triennial General Chapter of all Cistercian abbots; a simple system of affiliation and visitation which embraced every

353 Ibid., 4. Lekai also notes how Damian "nourished no admiration for the great builders who embellished their churches and enlarged their abbeys. He could not resist recounting a vision ofthe famous Abbot Richard of Saint-Vanne in hell, condemned to erect scaffoldings forever in punishment for his extravagant taste for fine architecture. Cardinal Peter had no appreciation for liturgical splendor, and criticised 'the unnecessary sounding ofbells, the protracted chanting ofhymns and the conspicuous use of ornament.'" Ibid. 354 Bernard ofClairvaux. Apologia ad Guillelmum 12.28. SBO 3: 104; ET: The Works o/Bernard o/Clairvaux. Volume One: Treatises I, ed. M. Basil Pennington (CF 1; Spencer, Mass.: Cistercian Publications, 1970), 63. 107 house in the order; a uniformity ofpractice; a wide freedom from every local authority whether secular or ecclesiastical. The Cistercians achieved at one stroke the kind of organization that every ruler would wish to have: a system complete in itself, wholly autonomous, equipped with a thorough organization for internal supervision, isolated from external interference, untroubled by those sources of dispute about services and rights which choked the law courts of Europe. The Cistercian system was the first effective international organization in Europe, more effective even than the papal organization because it had narrower aims and a smaller field ofoperation.355

Tellenbach concurs, stating that "(t)he connections between the Cistercian daughter monasteries and their famous mothers really were binding and permanent, and the'filiation' was an essential part of Cistercian organization."

The abbots ofmother houses visited their daughter houses regularly; all abbots came each year to the general chapter in Citeaux, which issued statutes and modifications to them which were binding on all houses. This institutionalisation, characteristic ofboth the secular and the spiritual life ofthe twelfth century, was a model for older and younger forms of monasticism alike.356

Yet another reason, and certainly a significant one for this study, was the order's relationship with the papacy. "The spiritual revival associated with the Church Reforms of the eleventh century and the foundation ofnew religious orders, above all the

Cistercian Order, and the rapid expansion of the orders of regular canons," Charles

Duggan argues, "blended ideally with the development ofpapal policies of centralization and universal guidance in spiritual as well as jurisdictional spheres.,,357

In this we see the difference between eleventh-century monastic movements and those ofthe twelfth. Morris observes: "One ofthe features of the monastic scene in the late eleventh century had been the appearance of groups of hermits who lived outside

355 Southern, Western Society, 255. 356 Tellenbach, The Church in Western Europe, 110. 357 Duggan, Canon Law, 105. 108

existing rules and customs. The dominant characteristic in the twelfth century was the

opposite: the emergence of new orders with clearly defined constitutions.,,358

"Early Citeaux, in sharp contrast to Cluny, sought neither fiscal immunities nor

exemption from episcopal jurisdiction," Lekai alleges. 359 They nevertheless received

both. The Cistercians were free of interference from local or diocesan clergy and

hierarchy, answering only to the pope himself. They were also exempt from tithing and

enjoyed other privileges as well?60 Ian Robinson explains how "in 1132 Citeaux and the

other abbeys of the order had obtained from Innocent II the valuable privilege of

exemption from the payment of tithes." Such exemption was not uncommon but, he

elaborates, "(i)t was a privilege strongly resented by the episcopate; and this resentment

finally succeeded in influencing papal policy during the pontificate of Hadrian IV.,,361

Pope Alexander III (ca. 1100-81), however, granted a complete exemption to the order in

1169 in return for its service to the papacy.

358 Morris, Papal Monarchy, 236. Morris goes on to state: "Paradoxically, these monks were the lineal descendants ofthe hermits: the Cistercians and Carthusians trace their ancestry back to hermits gathered at Burgund." Ibid. Morris has the following to say about the shift from eleventh- to twelfth­ century forms of monastic life: "There was no one reason for the change. In many cases a simple increase in numbers meant than an unstructured life was no longer possible...There were also times when considerable pressure was applied. Robert of Molesme, who at various stages abandoned all three houses ofwhich he was abbot, was ordered to leave Ci'teaux ...The monastic orders which emerged from hermit foundations often bore the mark oftheir origin...In one sense the Cistercians turned their back firmly on the hermit ideal, to which they were less sympathetic than the Cluniacs, but they carried into the cenobitic life features of the hermit inspiration such as the severity with which they kept the Rule, manual labour, the reduction in the weight of monastic liturgy and the stress on withdrawal to the wilderness." Ibid., 238-9. 359 Lekai, Cistercians, 65. 360 Ibid., 65-76. 361 Ian Stuart Robinson, The Papacy, 1093-1178: Continuity and Innovation (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 240-1. Robinson continues: "The Cistercian order enjoyed the particular favour of Alexander III because of the tireless support which the order gave him in the dangerous years 1159-77. Emperor Frederick I had hoped that his close connections with the order would win them to his party; but the Cistercian Archbishop Peter of Tarentaise brought his order into the Alexandrine party. In Sept. 1161 the Cistercian chapter declared for Alexander. The persecution which the order subsequently suffered in the imperial territories, as well as the Cistercian efforts to secure France and English recognition for Alexander, stimulated papal generosity...The historical context ofthis papal privilege offers a striking illustration of the order's influence in the later twelfth century and ofthe importance to the papacy of an alliance with the Cistercians." Ibid., 241-2. 109

This exemption was ofa piece with the ideals ofGregory VII. 362 "Just as Gregory

VII and the circle ofwhich he was the most eminent member focused the controversy

about the ordering of the life ofthe Church as a whole, so the Cistercians became the

centre ofthe controversy about the ordering of the monastic life," Southern writes. "The

Hildebrandine Reform ofthe Church has often been associated with the name of Cluny;

but, considered as a principle-in its return to the ancient, Roman, pre-Germanic, past; in

its appeal to reason and ancient authority against custom; and it its challenge, not simply

to corruption, but to a recognized ideal-the kinship is rather with Clteaux.,,363

It is fitting, then, that Becket would find support among the Cistercians in his

dispute with Henry. As F. M. Powicke pointed out long ago, Becket "turn(ed) at once to

the Cistercians, who gave him henceforth his greatest moral support.,,364 Bennett D. Hill reports: "Considering the amount of time that (Becket) spent with the monks, and remembering the high Gregorian principles for which the Cistercian Order stood in the middle years of the twelfth century, it is highly probable that the attitudes and the stand of the Cistercians had a direct bearing on the position and the philosophy of the

362 Note Lekai's comment: "The reclamation of tithes from secular owners and monasteries was an important issue in the Gregorian Reform. During the course of the eleventh century such resolutions were passed at a number of synods, but a good deal ofambiguity remained over monastic tithes. Monastic exceptions seemed to be justifiable because priests increasingly constituted the personnel of most abbeys and some of them actually discharged pastoral duties. Monastic possessions of tithes in some cases, moreover, were based on immemorial customs or papal privileges. Nevertheless, monastic reformers ofthe eleventh and twelfth centuries unanimously renounced their claims on tithes and determined to exist by their own manual labor. The early regulations of Citeaux regarding tithes merely echoed the opinion which, among many others, Abbot Odo of Saint Martin in Tournai enunciated about 1092, who 'was determined to accept neither altaria nor churches nor tithes, but to live solely from the labor of their hands ... [because] such revenues should be owed only by clerics, not by monks." Lekai, Cistercians, 65-6. Note as well that in Apology to Abbot William 6.12, Bernard makes much ofhow the Cistercians not only dress and eat simply, but live by their own manual labor as well. 363 Southern, Making, 166-7. 364 F. M. Powicke, "Maurice of Rievaulx," English Historical Review 36 (1921): 22. 110 archbishop.,,365 And in his letter to Becket where he refers to their "common friend"

(communis amicus noster) Isaac, Bellesmains urged Becket "to establish a closer friendship with the abbot ofPontigny"-the Cistercian motherhouse of Isaac's community at Stella-as well as his advice that "much indeed can be achieved through the diligence and holiness of the abbot ofPontigny and the other abbots of the Cistercian

Order.,,366

The Cistercians were nearly without peer as agents of spiritual change in the twelfth century. They were also advocates and disseminators of Gregory's reforms, not least through the indefatigable and prolific Bernard, "the 'cloistered' monk who traversed

Europe resolving a papal schism, who upbraided pope and emperor, dislodged archbishops from their sees, pursued heretics, and preached the Second Crusade, all the while writing prolifically and leading the broadest reform in monastic history.,,367

Charles Duggan refers to the "all-pervasive penetration of the life of the Church through the rise of the Cistercian movement." "This new religious zeal," he continues,

with its characteristic emphasis on the monastic virtues and disciplines, conditioned the general state ofthe Church as well as, in a more particular way, the minds of such leading reformers as Peter Damian and Gregory VII himself. It played a vital role in effecting a wider movement of reform, and was in the event itself still further stimulated by it. 368

365 Bennett D. Hill, "Archbishop Thomas Becket and the Cistercian Order," ASOC27 (1971): 66. See also L. A. Desmond's earlier article, "Becket and the Cistercians," Canadian Catholic Historical Association Reports 25 (1968): 9-29. 366 Letter 31. Materials 5: 114; ET: Correspondence 1: 105. 367 Emera Stiegman, "Bernard ofClairvaux, William ofSt. Thierry, the Victorines," in The Medieval Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Medieval Period, ed. G. R. Evans (Oxford: Blackwell, 200 1), 131. 368 Duggan, "Conquest," 71. Note Duggan's statement: "The spiritual revival associated with the Church Reforms ofthe eleventh century and the foundation ofnew religious orders, above all ofthe great Cistercian Order, as already discussed, and the rapid expansion ofthe orders ofregular canons, blended ideally with the development ofpapal policies ofcentralization and universal guidance in spiritual as well as jurisdictional spheres." Ibid., 105. 111

Cistercian support of Becket would prove to be only temporary, however, as I

shall report in the following chapter. The seemingly inextricable link between the order

and the papacy was not uncontroversial, either in England or on the Continent. "Henry II

became much irritated by Cistercian support for Thomas Becket," Lekai notes, "and

Barbarossa was equally resentful toward Cistercians for their rejection ofhis antipopes

and their staunch fidelity to Alexander III. In both countries, under threat of dire

retaliation, Cistercians were put under heavy pressure to conform to the royal will.,,369

Janet E. Burton likewise notes that "Henry II did not feel it an idle boast to threaten the

order with the confiscation of all its English lands.,,370

Early in his dispute with Henry, Henry of Houghton informs Becket that "(b)y the

Pope's request, prayers are being offered assiduously at Clairvaux, Citeaux, and Pontigny

for you and the church which God has entrusted to your charge.,,371 Henry's anger

against the order was evident by 1165, when Becket had taken up residence at the

Cistercian abbey of Pontigny in Burgundy, where he was to remain for over a year.

Becket wrote series of three threatening letters to Henry in the spring of 1166, two of

which were delivered by Urban I, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Cereamp-sur-

Canche in Pas-de-Calais, and the third and final letter delivered by Gerard, a barefoot monk.372

369 Lekai, Cistercians, 288. 370 Janet E. Burton, The Monastic Order in Yorkshire. 1069-1215 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 179. 371 Letter 20, dated ca. 9 November 1163. Materials 5: 61; ET: Correspondence 1: 57. 372 Letters 68, 74 and 82, respectively, in Correspondence. Barlow states that Becket chose Gerard to deliver the third letter as a way to insult Henry further. Barlow, Becket, 145. This seems untenable, however, since on the one hand Urban I may have already died (he died 31 August 1166 and the exact date ofLetter 82 is uncertain). On the other hand, Henry was already furious with the Cistercians and Becket would have been astute enough not to send another member ofthe order. In any case, I find Duggan's remark that 'Thomas chose the most obviously unworldly messenger he could find to reinforce 112

In response to the second ofthese letters in particular, Henry complains to the

English-born abbot of Citeaux, Gilbert. Henry refers to Urban I by name as being the

bearer ofan "impudent letter" on behalf of "a certain Thomas, who was our chancellor."

More important, Henry accuses not only Urban I or the monks of Cercamp-sur-Canche,

but indeed the entire order itselfas acting on behalf ofBecket.373

The Cistercians proved to be as influential as they were popular and provided a

model for other monastic movements throughout the Western church. The movement

grew rapidly in England and on the Continent as well, and one oftheir own ascended to

the papacy in 1145, namely, Pope Eugene III. Cistercian houses multiplied and aspirants

joined the order in droves; Isaac, as we have seen, was one ofmany.374 "The growth of

the Cistercian Order was ofoutstanding importance: the advance ofpapal power in the

mid-twelfth century in the extent of its permeation ofthe Church was linked with the

higher pitch ofreligious fervour achieved by the Cistercians," Charles Duggan reports.

"At the same time, the religious orders proved the natural and constant allies of the

papacy, with which many contracted a special and immediate relationship, and almost all

found it useful to seek regular confirmation of their privileges and possessions by the

highest ecclesiastical authority.,,375

the spiritual quality ofthe message and escape the wrath of the king" more reasonable. See Correspondence I: 328-9n.l. 373 Materials 5: 365-6. 374 See Introduction, supra. 375 Duggan, "Conquest," 86. 113

7. Isaac

What, then, are we to make ofIsaac's involvement with Becket? It was limited and unremarkable. Bellesmains mentions Isaac along with two other "common friends" ofBecket but Isaac is never mentioned elsewhere in Becket's correspondence.376

Considering the enormity of Becket's correspondence, this is an important point. "In addition to [Becket's] biographies or hagiographies," Anne Duggan writes, "the historian has one ofthe largest collections ofcontemporary letters assembled in the middle ages.,,377 Alan ofTewkesbury (d. 1202) compiled the collection ofletters in order to establish an accurate documentary record. The collection, which survives in three recensions, contains 598 pieces ofcorrespondence, 329 of which are letters either to or from Becket.378 And yet in "(t)his immensely rich vein ofmaterial," there is but a fleeting reference to Isaac.379

That Isaac sided with Becket is not unexpected. Both men were English but more important is Isaac's affiliation with the Cistercian Order. It is less the case that Isaac supported Becket as an individual (English or otherwise) but much more that Isaac came down on the side of the Gregorian reforms. Indeed, it is unclear whether Isaac and

Becket ever met. 380 Isaac's reasons for supporting Becket-or, for that matter, his reasons for failing to support either Henry or his case against Becket-are unknown.

Nothing within Isaac's oeuvre directly relates to either Becket or his case against Henry.

376 See Chapter I, supra. 377 Duggan, Becket, 5. 378 For a thorough discussion ofAlan of Tewkesbury's collection, see Correspondence I: lxxx-c. 379 Duggan, Becket, 6. 380 Salet, however, offers this as a possibility during Isaac's student days at Chartres. See Introduction, supra. 114

While Isaac does refer occasionally to contemporary events in his works, he nowhere refers either to Becket or his dispute with Henry.

Why, then, did Isaac support Becket, however indirect and passive his support appears to have been? We know from Becket's correspondence that Bellesmains encouraged Becket to forge a close relationship with Pontigny, Stella's motherhouse, and that monks from various Cistercian houses were praying for Becket. We have already mentioned Bellesmains' reference to Isaac as their "common friend." But what of it? To what may we attribute the reasons for any support Isaac may have shown Becket? And if

Isaac's support was neither active nor direct, politically speaking, then why would Isaac have cared?

Although Raciti argued, as we have seen, that Isaac's later years on R6 were the result ofthe loss ofhis political fortunes in the wake of Becket's death and largely at the hands of Geoffrey, I should like to describe in this study that Isaac's interests and motivations were theological and not political. Further, the proof ofthis is in the very texts Raciti scrutinized so carefully and thoroughly, namely, Isaac's sermons. As a

Cistercian, Isaac naturally and instinctively tilted toward the church and in particular the papacy and its prerogatives.

In Chapter I, I showed the modem interest in, inter alia, Isaac's Christology and ecclesiology. The studies of Dickens, Joly, Schaefer, and others treat these topics and their place in Isaac's theology more fully than I am able at the moment. I am limiting this study to Isaac's monastic theology, the focus of the subsequent chapter but here and now I shall make the following remarks to prepare the way forward. 115

First and most important, for Isaac it is theology that takes pride ofplace.381 As I

demonstrate in the following chapter, while he does refer from time to time to events both

contemporary and quotidian in his sermons, Isaac's primary interest is theology.

Following his monastic predecessors, Isaac seems practically single-minded in his focus

on the spiritual. Reason, understanding and knowledge fall on their faces, Isaac states in

Sermon 4, when they confront Christ's incomprehensibility, incorporeality and

invisibility.382

Second, this dovetails (as I report in Chapter III) with Isaac's attitude concerning

the goal ofthe monastic life, namely, the transformation ofthe monk himself. Theology

is the center and this theology is first and foremost experiential. The monastic life,

whether active or contemplative, is of one piece with a life dedicated to living a Christ­

like life. The monk, following Christ as his "supreme pattern,,,383 strives to live his life in

the present in imitation of Christ, thereby preparing himself for the life to come. This

means, for Isaac, sharing especially in Christ's poverty, obedience and suffering. Indeed,

the monk's trust rests in nothing other than truly following Christ. "The worth ofour

trust," according to Isaac, "depends on whether our life in this world is like his, on

whether we walk as he walked, and so make good our claim to be dwelling in him.,,384

381 Note that theology (theologia, 8WAOyta) in patristic usage does not mean first and foremost an intellectual exercise. Rather, a perusal ofG. W. H. Lampe's Patristic Greek Lexicon reveals that theology has to do with, inter alia, the Trinity, the liturgy and "mystical knowledge of God." Only later is the word defined as either a subject of inquiry or a rational exercise. A Patristic Greek Lexicon, ed. G. W. H. Lampe (Rev. ed. New York and Oxford: Clarendon, 1976),627-8. 382 Sermon 4.9. (F)aciem vero ob incomprehensibilitatis, incorporeitatis, invisibilitatis simplicem formam, in qua Patri manet aequalis, non sustineat, immo in faciem suam et ratio, et intellectus et intelligentia cadant. SC 130: 136; PL 194: 1702B-C. 383 See Chapter III, infra. 384 Sermon 8.14. Quia in hoc estjiducia, si sicut ille fuit, sic et nos simus in hoc mundo, et sicut ille ambulavit, ita ambulet, qui dicit se in illo manere. SC 130: 202; PL 194: 1718D. 116

Third and finally, Isaac's involvement in the Becket controversy can only be

understood properly in the light ofhis monastic theology. In other words, in addition to

his affiliation with the Cistercian order, what loomed largest for Isaac was his dedication

to following Christ in word and deed. Christ is not one datum among others, an example

of morality or ethics. He is for Isaac, rather, the very pattern of one's life, the pattern for

one's external behavior as well as inner life. 385 The life of the Christian and in particular

that of the monk must be patterned after that of Christ, the poor, obedient and suffering

Christ especially.

Isaac's support of Becket, then, was far from direct or active. He was one

Cistercian among others who sided with Becket and his cause. While the Cistercian

Order ultimately withdrew its hospitality in 1166 there is no indication that either Isaac or

any other Cistercian, for that matter, suffered because of it. Isaac lacked the power of

Bellesmains or others to have done a great deal, practically speaking, for Becket, a point

overlooked by Raciti who wants to make of Isaac a figure far more important than the

evidence allows.

Given Isaac's affiliation with the Cistercian Order and its orientation toward

ecclesiastical authority in relation to secular, we should not be surprised that Isaac would

side with Becket. But to understand Isaac's "support" of Becket as being active or

otherwise that which would have jeopardized his career is untenable for reasons I shall

describe in the following chapter. Suffice it to say for the time being, there is no

evidence for this. Second, Isaac was not in a position where he could have done much­

385 Sermon 8.16. (D)e ipso exemplari ipsum in exemplum cordium vestrorum intus, et corporum loris transcribite. SC 130: 202-4; PL 194: 1719B. 117

in a concrete, tangible way-for Becket. Far more powerful supporters of Becket were

Bellesmains and other abbots, none of whom suffered for their support of Becket.

C. Methods

The foundation of the monastery of Notre Dame des Chateliers on Re is a crucial

factor in determining Isaac's career, specifically, to determine whether his "exile"

occurred early in his career or later and, more important, as a consequence of his support

ofBecket. My collection strategy is to focus on the documentary evidence that pertains

to the foundation of the monastery on Re. These are found primarily in Debray­

Mulatier's aforementioned article386 and Martine Garrigues' Le premier cartulaire de

I'abbaye cistercienne de Pontigny.387

The guiding question throughout this study is: Does evidence exist for Isaac's direct role in the Becket controversy as well as his support of Becket? Also, was Isaac truly among Becket's more significant allies or was he in reality a minor player? I focus on Isaac's sermons, in particular those places where, according to Raciti, he refers to his literal exile on Re. The reasons for focusing on both are important to my study. Unlike

Raciti, I do not believe Isaac's sermons are to be read for historical or biographical information, at least not primarily. To read them for such is, as I argue, a modem way of reading or at least a way that is not keeping with the manner in which Isaac intended them to be read or encountered.

386 See Chapter I in particular, supra. 387 Martine Garrigues, Le premier cartulaire de l'abbaye cistercienne de Pontigny (Paris: Bibliotheque nationale, 1981). 118

My analytical strategy is to read Isaac's sermons as monastic sermons. The

method I shall use to analyze Isaac's sermons is sermon studies, in particular the study of

monastic sermons. Previous research on Isaac's sermons does not rely on either Isaac's

precedents in monastic literature or sermon studies. By using both of these approaches I

can describe Isaac's sermons in a way that is faithful to both their literary and theological

traditions.

Muessig's article, "Sermon, Preacher and Society in the Middle Ages," discusses

very concisely the methodology of sermon studies, in particular its interdisciplinary

approach.388 Additional work by Muessig,389 Beverly Mayne Kienzle390 and others has

contributed to this methodological approach of which I make use. 391 This will highlight where I believe Raciti's argument to have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Raciti assumed Isaac's sermons could be mined for autobiographical data or clues and based his theory of a forced exile to R6 as a consequence of Isaac's support of

Becket because of that. Raciti's reading, method, analytical strategy, etc., determined how he read Isaac's sermons. For Raciti, sermon is nearly synonymous with autobiography.

388 Carolyn Muessig, "Sermon, Preacher and Society in the Middle Ages," Journal ofMedieval History 28.1 (2002): 73-91. 389 Medieval Monastic Preaching, ed. Carolyn Muessig (Studies in Intellectual History 90; Leiden and Boston: Brill, 1998; Preacher, Sermon and Audience in the Middle Ages, ed. Carolyn Muessig (A New History of the Sermon 3; Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2002). 390 Beverly Mayne Kienzle, "The Typology of the Medieval Sermon and its Development in the Middle Ages: Report on Work in Progress," in De I'homelie au sermon: histoire de la predication medievale: actes du Colloque international de Louvain-Ia-Neuve, ed. Jacqueline Hamesse and Xavier Hermand (Publications de l'Institut d'etudes medievales; Textes, etudes, congres 14; Louvain-la-Neuve: Catholic University of Louvain, 1993),83-101 ; "Introduction," "The Twelfth-Century Monastic Sermon" and "Conclusion," in The Sermon, ed. Beverly Mayne Kienzle (Typologie des sources du moyen age occidental 81-3 ; Turnhout: Brepols, 2000),143-74,271-323 and 963-83, respectively. 391 George Ferzoco and Carolyn Muessig give some indication of the vastness of the literature of medieval sermons studies by their 123-page bibliography in Kienzle, "Bibliography," 19-142. 119

I demonstrate on the basis ofpassages from his sermons where it is apparent that

Isaac is not providing autobiographical or historical information. This is clear from the way in which things like locations are handled in monastic texts. Adalbert de Vogiie's article on John Cassian's Conferences392 and James E. Goehring's article on the desert in early monastic literature393 are two significant works that demonstrate that in monastic literature, references to place or location are not always literal or historical.

For Isaac's sermons, I argue that his references to "exile" are no more literal than his predecessors' references to the desert. Isaac is not, therefore, referring to his forced exile to Re. He is, rather, making a theological point which is in keeping with what his sermon is about and consistent with the genre of sermon studies.

My emphasis is on situating and describing the way in which Isaac's sermons function as monastic sermons-in other words, how a monk wrote for monks. Questions

I shall consider as I analyze Isaac's sermons include: How did monks "hear" or otherwise use sermons? Were written sermons necessarily intended to be delivered? Was the sermon a genre and not necessarily something that was to be delivered? How did

Cistercians in Isaac's time preach and hear sermons? Were sermons delivered orally? If so were they transcribed? Who edited them? When, how and by whom were sermons published? Studies such Leclercq's The Love ofLearning andthe Desirefor God: A

Study ofMonastic Culture394 and Brian Stock's The Implications ofLiteracy: Written

392 Adalbert de VogUe, "Understanding Cassian: A Survey ofthe Conferences," CSQ 19 (1984): 101-121. 393 James E. Goehring, "The Encroaching Desert: Literary Production and Ascetic Space in Early Christian Egypt", in Ascetics, Society, and the Desert: Studies in Early Egyptian Monasticism (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity; Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1999), 73-88. 394 Jean Leclercq, The Love ofLearning and the Desirefor God: A Study ofMonastic Culture, trans. Catharine Misrahi (3d ed.; New York: Fordham, 1982). 120

Language andModels ofInterpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries395 will

provide much ofthe conceptual framework for my analysis. The works ofWalter J.

Ong,396 M. T. Clanchl97 and Harvey Graff398 have also been useful in their studies of,

broadly speaking, the effect of literacy in Western society in general.

In the end, I argue that any simple theory to describe Isaac's references to "exile"

in his sermons falls apart. I also discuss why I have come to believe that Raciti's theory

is fundamentally flawed. The geme ofthe monastic sermon is a complex and

multifaceted one, and those who would seek to engage such a text on its own terms and in

the light of how its author intended must be aware of much more than the quest for

historical or biographical data.

D. Summary

Barlow offers in the concluding chapter of his biography of Becket, entitled

"From Death unto Life," that his "life contains so many contradictions and controversial

features that it has always been ofinterest.,,399 Becket's life and in particular his death

epitomize much of the struggles between the sacred and the profane during his lifetime

and the period preceding it. "Ifone picture is worth a thousand words," remarks Duggan

at the close of her own biography of the archbishop, "the depiction of Becket's murder­

395 Brian Stock, The Implications ofLiteracy: Written Language and Models ofInterpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983). 396 Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing ofthe Word (New Accents; London and New York: Methuen, 1982). 397 M. T. Clanchy, From Memory to Written Record: England 1066-1307 (2d ed.; Oxford and Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1993). 398 Harvey 1. Graff, The Legacies ofLiteracy: Continuities and Contradictions in Western Culture and Society (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1987). 399 Barlow, Becket, 274. 121 with the armour-clad knights brandishing their swords above the unprotected head ofthe priest---ereated an unforgettable image, which expressed the tension between religious and secular forces."

No commentary was required to interpret the dramatic scene transmitted across Europe in manuscripts or on the reliquaries manufactured in Limoges. Detached from the specifics ofhis dispute with Henry II, that image became a powerful symbol ofecclesiastical steadfastness in the face ofsecular excess. 400

In this chapter I have described the historical background ofthe Becket controversy. Becket rose from relatively humble beginnings as the son ofa London merchant to the pinnacle of success in the English church as archbishop of Canterbury.

His association with Theobald and later Henry did much to ensure his ascent. But

Becket's relationship with the latter would quickly unravel following his election and consecration as archbishop in 1162. Indeed, by 1164 Becket had fled England and lived for over a year at the Cistercian monastery at Pontigny.

Becket's conflict with Henry can best be understood when placed against the complicated background of the Investiture Controversy. While the controversy in

England did not mirror what it was on the Continent, the interplay between secular and ecclesiastical power was a subject of interest nevertheless. Henry, given what he had inherited from his immediate predecessor, was keen to reassert his control over the

English church. He declared this forthrightly in the Constitutions of Clarendon of 1164 which Becket ultimately rejected, thereby placing him on what became an inexorable path toward murder.

400 Duggan, Becket, 268. 122

That Becket would seek refuge from a Cistercian monastery is understandable, considering the order's dedication to the papacy as well as the reforms of Gregory VII.

This dedication along with the order's organization contributed greatly to its growth during the twelfth century. Becket's correspondence reveals the value he placed upon the

Cistercians-both spiritual and practical-and while the monastery at Pontigny as well as the order itself would eventually rescind the earlier offer ofhospitality, Becket and the order shared much in their mutual understanding of the church's authority and prerogatives.

Isaac's choice ofthe Cistercians as his home in the monastic life is in keeping with the order's growth and expansion during his lifetime. When Bellesmains writes to

Becket oftheir "common friend," Isaac, he thereby involves Isaac in the Becket controversy. But apart from this single reference to Isaac in the voluminous Becket correspondence, there is nothing to indicate any active support of Becket on the part of

Isaac, much less any consequences suffered by the latter.

Following the historical background, I discuss my collection and analytical strategies. My focus is on the documentary evidence concerning the foundation of the monastery on R6 as well as Isaac's sermons. Previous research on Isaac's sermons in particular fails to consider Isaac's predecessors in monastic literature or to understand them as an example ofthe genre of the monastic sermon. By using both earlier examples from monastic literature and the method of sermon studies, I place Isaac's sermons in their proper historical and monastic context, as well as to explain how Isaac's support of

Becket was not something for which he suffered exile. 123

Chapter III. Presentation and Analysis ofResearch

A. Introduction and Overview

1. Restatement ofthe Purpose of the Present Study

My argument, that Isaac's role in the Becket controversy was a marginal one and

that whatever support Isaac may have given to Becket was insufficient reason for official

sanction or retribution, is based upon Isaac's sermons themselves. Raciti's argument that

Isaac's sermons reveal autobiographical details that evince his forced exile to R6 and the

loss ofhis abbacy has been the dominant narrative for over a generation. Raciti's

argument includes two components relevant to my study: his evidence and his claim.

The former is Isaac's sermons themselves, the most important ofwhich is Sermon 48.

The latter is that these sermons contain circumstantial, historical and autobiographical

details relevant to the Becket controversy and prove that Isaac's support ofBecket was

such that he suffered considerably for it.

In this chapter, I discuss the evidence for my claim that Isaac's role in the Becket

controversy was a minimal one and that he suffered no reversal of his ecclesial or

political fortunes. I focus on Isaac's predecessors in monastic literature, in particular

John Cassian (ca. 360-435) and the Rule ofBenedict. It is here that I discuss the monastic

approach to Scripture as well as geographical and spatial references in monastic literature

and how these are to be interpreted.

In the sections that follow I focus on Isaac's sermons themselves, in particular circumstantial and historical details, geographical and spatial references, the language

and style ofthe sermons, and finally Isaac's use ofthe theme of"exile" in the sermons. I 124 then describe my findings where I state specifically where I differ with Raciti and others concerning the nature ofIsaac's "exile" as well as the implications ofmy findings. In particular I discuss the founding of the monastery of Notre Dame des Chateliers on R6 and the documentary evidence that pertains to it. A summary thereupon concludes this chapter.

What makes this study one of historical theology is my focus on Isaac's sermons as sermons, i.e., focusing on the monastic content and context ofIsaac's sermons as well as his predecessors in monastic literature. My argument is that Isaac's sermons are not to be taken as sources of historical information and that, therefore, we should not read them in order to learn more about Isaac's political situation. Not that Isaac's sermons lack historical, circumstantial or geographical information-elearly they do not. But Isaac's primary interest was not to describe any of this and mining his sermons for insights to his involvement in the Becket controversy is a dubious endeavor. It is dubious precisely because we would read Isaac's sermons in a way that Isaac never intended for them to be read or heard.

Practically speaking, I am inverting Raciti's argument. Instead of arguing from the general to the specific, I am considering the specific genre, content and context of

Isaac's sermons. Raciti did not do this. Rather, Raciti begins with his thesis that Isaac suffered for his support of Becket, specifically the loss ofhis abbacy at Stella and his forced exile to the island ofR6. Evidence for this was obtained from Isaac's sermons but

Raciti tended to read these as historical and autobiographical documents. Raciti failed, in other words, to read Isaac's sermons as sermons, as monastic sermons in particular. 125

Raciti did not consider the precedents in monastic literature or the contours, interests,

purpose, etc., ofmonastic theology.

Raciti also failed to consider the lack of external evidence. There exists, inter

alia, barely a single mention ofIsaac in Becket's entire correspondence. Furthermore,

Isaac's views ofpoverty and militarism, as we shall see, would have put him at odds with

Becket as well as Bellesmains.401 Documentary evidence suggests an early date for the

founding of the monastery on R6 as the most plausible, the importance of which I shall

describe in this chapter. And considering that neither Bellesmains nor Geoffrey faced

any ramifications or consequences for supporting Becket, I question Raciti's all too eager

explanation for Isaac's purported "exile."

Raciti seized on a theory that seemed to solve everything but was found to be

wanting when it came to Isaac's forbears in monastic theology. Raciti has rendered an

invaluable service to students of Isaac. His study has not been superseded in terms of

close and careful study ofIsaac's sermons. Where I differ with Raciti is in terms of his

seeming lack of awareness ofIsaac's context as a monastic writer. Isaac was a monk

who wrote for monks. Raciti's study as well as my own demonstrates that Isaac's main

writings were sermons, a genre with a specific context, form and intended audience. This

401 See Richard Winston, Thomas Becket (New York: Knopf, 1967), 73-4, 76-88, 94-5. Note the following: "Thomas Becket had been striving, among his multitudinous other activities, to build up England's sea power. Henry had had only one ship at his disposal until his chancellor presented him with three more. Thomas himself had the use of six and even more vessels when he wished to cross the Channel, and was in the habit ofgiving free passage to all who needed it. But his seven hundred knights, with the numerous footmen, squires, and pages who attended them, must have strained the shipping resources of England. If all the men of England who owed knight's service had swarmed to the ports, they would have waited months for transportation to Normandy." Ibid., 78. See also Philibert Pouzet, L'Anglais Jean dit Bellesmains (1122-1204?). Eveque de PoWers, puis Archeveque de Lyon (1162-1182, 1182-1192) (Lyon: Camus and Camet, 1927), 111-3. 126 was not considered by Raciti, however, and it is my purpose to expand on the fruits of his labors.

The modem interest in sermons studies superseded Raciti's important article on

Isaac. I do not wish to [md fault with Raciti so much as I wish to indicate where his work could be supplemented. What I argue in this study is that Isaac, as can be demonstrated on the basis of his sermons, stands in fundamental continuity with the Christian monastic and ascetical tradition. While Raciti does not deny this, his argument obscures this nevertheless.

Raciti's scholarship is invaluable and scholars ofIsaac and Cistercians in general owe him a great debt. Raciti nevertheless failed to understand or at least appreciate

Isaac's continuity with his monastic forebears. Isaac's sermons, under the exacting eye of Raciti, were seen as demonstrating their immediate historical or contemporary concerns as well as Isaac's apologetic interests. They were not understood as being one link in a chain ofmonastic literature, literature with a unique idiom especially in its approach to Scripture, that stretched back to the beginnings of the monastic tradition.

Understanding Isaac's place in the stream of monastic literature is essential to understanding what Isaac is doing in his sermons. This is especially true when we consider Isaac's use of geographical place and references to "exile." Circumstantial details are few, as are references to contemporary events. Isaac is not providing his monks with the news of the day. Indeed, Isaac's sermons are strikingly free of details on contemporary events. When they do occur (e.g., Sermon 48), they are notable as exceptions. 127

B. Presentation ofFindings

1. Isaac's Predecessors in Monastic Literature

Isaac was a monk who wrote for monks. Isaac was also an abbot and was doubtless well aware of Benedict's admonition that "(t)he abbot who is worthy of ruling a monastery ought always to remember what he is called; he should live up to the name of superior by his actions. ,,402 An abbot represents Christ in the monastery and ought to "be constantly mindful of the fact that his teaching and the obedience ofhis disciples, fIrst the one and then the other, will eventually have to be examined in the terrible judgment of

God.,,403

Isaac wrote, therefore, in a specifIc context without which it is diffIcult to engage his works fully and in the sense in which he intended to understand them. This context is fundamentally a monastic one and in this section I shall discuss Isaac's predecessors in monastic literature-the Desert Fathers and Cassian in particular-in order to provide a better understanding of the language and imagery he uses in his sermons. I shall address the following topics: 1. Monastic approaches to Scripture; 2. References to geographic and spatial locations in early monastic literature; and 3. Isaac's use of"exile" and other seemingly historical events in his sermons. In so doing I shall place Isaac in his context, not just as a monk writing for monks but also a monk as a part ofa continuum, the roots ofwhich extend back to the deserts ofEgypt and the branches ofwhich extended well beyond his monastic community at Stella.

402 RB 2.1. 403 RB 2.2, 6. 128

2. Monastic Approaches to Scripture

From the earliest days of Christian monasticism, the prayer book par excellence

has been Scripture, the Psalter especially. When Pachomius (ca. 290-346) wished to

transform the group of ascetics that had gathered around him at Tabennesi in the Thebaid 404 into a monastic K01VCOV1U (ca. 320), he wrote a rule for them. Unlike the unlettered

Antony, whom Athanasius describes in his Life as "so attentive to the reading ofthe

Scripture lessons that nothing escaped him: he retained everything and so his memory

served him in place ofbooks,,,405 Pachomius mandated a very rudimentary literacy for his

monks in order that they may learn the Scriptures-or at the very least, a portion of

them-by heart.406

Literacy was desired neither for its own sake nor for the purpose of scholarship,

but for the sake ofacquiring the text of Scripture through contemplation.407 A monk

404 Pachomius would likewise write a rule for the community he established at Pbou c. 326. See Philip Rousseau, Pachomius: The Making ofa Monastic Community in Fourth-Century Egypt (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press, 1999). 405 Vita Antonii 3.7. SC 400: 138; ET: ACW 10: 21. A quite literate Antony, however, emerges in the letters ascribed to him. See Samuel Rubenson, The Letters ofSt. Antony: Monasticism and the Making ofa Saint (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995). 406 Pachomius's special concern for the Psalter is evident in Precepts 139-40: "Whoever enters the monastery uninstructed shall be taught first what he must observe; and when, so taught, he has consented to it all, they shall give him twenty psalms or two of the Apostle's epistles, or some other part of the Scripture. "And if he is illiterate, he shall go at the first, third, and sixth hours to someone who can teach and has been appointed for him. He shall stand before him and learn very studiously with all gratitude. Then the fundamentals of a syllable, the verbs, and nouns shall be written for him, and even if he does not want to, he shall be compelled to read. "There shall be no one whatever in the monastery who does not learn to read and does not memorize something of the Scriptures. [One should learn by heart] at least the New Testament and the Psalter." ET: Pachomian Koinonia 2: 166. 407 Indeed, Palladius writes in Historia Lausiaca 32.12 that the Pachomian monks at Tabennesi "all learn the Holy Scriptures by heart" (ACW 34: 95). Horsiesios, Pachomius's successor at Tabennesi, likewise insisted on a modicum of literacy: "Let us be wealthy in texts learned by heart. Let him who does not memorize much memorize at least ten sections along with a section ofthe psalter; and let him who does not recite at night recite ten psalms of five ofthem with a section of texts learned by heart." Regulations ofHorsiesios 16 (Pachomian Koinonia 2: 202). 129

read, according to Cassian, for "spiritual knowledge" (scientia spiritalis).408 And it is this

acquisition of Scripture that would fonn the life ofprayer ofthe monks. In the Desert

Fathers this approach to the reading of Scripture is readily apparent. Abba Epiphanius,

for example, says: "Reading the Scriptures is a great safeguard against sin.,,409 "The

Sayings speak often of the benefits of ruminating and meditating upon Scripture," relates

Douglas Burton-Christie.

These practices are described in the same general tenns as the recitation of Scripture at the public or private synaxis and should not be too sharply distinguished from it. Such an approach to Scripture involved saying the words of a particular text, mulling them over in the mind, chewing on and slowly digesting the words. And it was a predominantly oral phenomenon.41 0

This rumination or meditation (meditatio) on Scripture, following the tradition of

the Desert Fathers, occupies a place of no little importance in the Conferences. Behind

Cassian's use of the tenn meditatio lay a long tradition going back well before the Desert 411 Fathers. Cassian follows the Latin appropriation ofthe Greek tenn f.U,:A£T1l by

trans I atmg·· It as med" ztatlO. 412 MaA£TT} means "attention" or "care" that is given to an

activity,413 and in the Sayings o/the Desert Fathers, an example of the tradition that

408 Conference 14.8-17. CSEL 13: 404-23; ET: ACW 57: 509-23. 409 Epiphanius 9. PG 65: 165B; ET: The Sayings ofthe Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, trans. Benedicta Ward (Rev. ed.; CSS 59; Kalamazoo and Oxford: Cistercian Publications and Mowbray, 1984),58. 410 Douglas Burton-Christie, The Word in the Desert: Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 122. See especiaIIy 107-33. 411 See Heinrich Bacht's very helpful '''Meditatio' in den altesten MonchsqueIIen," Geist und Leben 28 (1955): 360-73 as weII as Burton-Christie, Word, 122-33. 412 EspeciaIIy helpful as far as Cassian's overaII appropriation of Greek monastic terminology is Columba Stewart's "From Logos to Verbum. John Cassian's Use of Greek in the Development of a Latin Monastic Vocabulary," in The Joy ofLearning and the Love ofGod: Studies in Honor ofJean Leclercq, ed. E. Rozanne Elder (CSS 160; Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1995), 5-31. 413 A Greek-English Lexicon, ed. Henry George LiddeII and Robert Scott (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Rev. ed.), 1096; A Patristic Greek Lexicon, ed. G.W.H. Lampe (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961), 840-41; Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament and Other Early Christian 130

doubtless exerted a great influence on Cassian, IlEAcTll-IlEAc'r

sense, meaning both the recitation of texts as well as meditating on or contemplating

them.

Reading Scripture-and, more important, reading Scripture aloud-was a crucial

part of monastic praxis. It was, furthermore, a commonplace in the classical world.414

Reading was an active, indeed, physical practice. "Cassian places biblical meditatio at

the center of both his ascetical and contemplative agendas," Columba Stewart writes.

He includes it among the basic practices of the monastic life such as fasting, vigils, and manual labor, for there is an ascetical boon in employing the mind constructively with biblical material. Vocalizing the text in meditatio was meant to fill body, heart, and mind with nourishing matter even as it blocked dangerous thoughts. Saying the text aloud was a key part of the exercise; by engaging body as well as mind in holy occupation, the intrusion of destructive thoughts was less likely.415

A monastic approach to reading Scripture is, therefore, a multivalent one.

A monk reads Scripture not only as reportage or a presentation of historical facts.

Literature, ed. and trans. William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1979),500. 414 Augustine of Hippo (354-430) famously refers to Ambrose of Milan (ca. 340-97) reading silently and his surprise at observing this in Confessions 6.3.3: "When he read his eyes would travel across the pages and his mind would explore the sense, but his voice and tongue were silent." CCL 27: 75; ET: WSA 1.1: 137. See also Leclercq,LoveojLearning, 15-7. 415 Columba Stewart, Cassian the Monk (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology; New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 104. For the specific orality of Scripture, see William A. Graham's very useful study, Beyond the Written World: Oral Aspects ojScripture in the History oj Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 117-54. See also Bacht, "'Meditatio,''' 370. Walter J. Ong notes: "The condition of words in a text is quite different from their condition in spoken discourse. Although they refer to sounds and are meaningless unless they can be re1ated-externally or in the imagination-to the sounds or, more precisely, the phonemes they encode, written words are isolated from the fuller context in which spoken words come into being. The word in its natural, oral habitat is a part ofa real, existential present. Spoken utterance is addressed by a real, living person to another real, living person or real, living persons, at a specific time in a real setting which includes always much more than mere words. Spoken words are always modifications of a total situation which is more than verbal. They never occur alone, in a context simply of words." Ong, Orality and Literacy, 101. 131

It is not reading per se but rather a reading that is pursued in the spirit of

meditation (meditatio).416

Following Cassian's death ca. 435, his influence on the monks and monastic

communities of southern Gaul continued, first of all on the small island of Lerins.

Indeed, Cassian's close contact with Lerins is known not only by virtue of the close

proximity ofMarseilles, but also by what he himself elaborates in the Conferences. After

all, it was to Honoratus and Eucherius-the former the founder and abbot ofthe

monastery at Lerins and the latter a monk ofthe same monastery-that Cassian dedicated 417 Conferences 11 through 17. "Here was a monastery," writes Peter King ofLerins, "in

which Egyptian monasticism was most perfectly adapted to the conditions of Gaul,,,418 an

adaptation doubtless through the contribution of Cassian.

It was Benedict, however, who would prove to exert the greatest influence on

Western monasticism, but much ofhis own influence lay in the works ofCassian.419

When Benedict wrote his Regula around 540 for the monks at Monte Cassino (a

416 This is an important topic for Cassian, one that he expresses straightaway in the Conferences: "(T)he mind cannot be free from agitating thoughts during the trials ofthe present life, since it is spinning around in the torrents of the trials that overwhelm it from all sides. But whether these will be either refused or admitted into itself will be the result of its own zeal and diligence. For if, as we have said, we constantly return to meditating on Holy Scripture (ad sanctarum scripturarum meditationem) and raise our awareness to the recollection of spiritual realities and to the desire for perfection and the hope of future blessedness, it is inevitable that the spiritual thoughts which have arisen from this will cause the mind to dwell on the things that we have been meditating on." Conference 1.18.2. CSEL 13: 27; ET: ACW57: 57. 417 Preface 2.1: "0 holy brothers Honoratus and Eucherius." CSEL 13: 311; ET: ACW57: 399. See also The Life ofthe Jura Fathers: The Life and Rule ofthe Holy Fathers Romanus, Lupicinus, and Eugendus, Abbots ofthe Monasteries ofthe Jura Mountains, trans. Tim Vivian, et al. (CSS 178;Kalamazoo and Spencer, Mass.: Cistercian Publications, 1999),38-9; Peter King, Western Monasticism: A History of the Monastic Movement in the Latin Church (CSS 185; Kalamazoo and Spencer: Cistercian Publications, 1999),47-8. 418 King, Western Monasticism, 47. 419 See RB 42.3 and 5 for Benedict's recommendation to read the Conferences. See also RB 73.5 for Benedict's recommendation to read the Conferences as well as the Institutes. For the Eastern Christian roots of Benedict and Cassian, as well as Western monasticism, see Placide Deseille, "Eastern Christian Sources of the Rule of Saint Benedict," Monastic Studies 11 (1975): 73-122 and Vincent Desprez, "The Origins of Western Monasticism," American Benedictine Review 41 (1990): 99-112, 167-91. 132

community he had founded ca. 529), he could not have imagined the enormous influence

it was to have.42o The influence of the Regula Benedicti was not widespread until the

ninth century, however, due to another Benedict. Nearly every monastery had its own

rule, rather like the one Benedict himself drew up for Monte Cassino, which he doubtless

never intended being used outside his community. When Benedict ofAniane (ca. 750­

821) produced his Codex Regularum monasticarum et canonicarum, a collection of

various monastic regulae, he understood the Regula Benedicti as not just one regula

among many but also amended and systematized it and, in so doing, established it as the

monastic regula par excellence for the West.

Benedict's approach to reading follows closely what we have seen thus far. Like

Pachomius, Benedict assumed a basic level of literacy. The entire Psalter was recited

every week421 and reading occupied a monk's free time as well.422 A text was quite

literally learned by heart in this manner,423 reflecting Pachomius as well as (and certainly 424 a more direct influence for Benedict) Cassian.

420 "The greatest impact of Cassian on later tradition came through his influence on the emerging Latin monastic rules," Stewart observes. "Even more significant for the Middle Ages and beyond was Cassian's influence on the anonymous legislator known only as the Master and his wise heir, Benedict of Nursia." Stewart, Cassian, 25. 421 "But whatever is done, be careful that the full number of 150 psalms is sung, and the cycle must begin anew at Vigils on Sunday. For those monks who sing less than the Psalter with its customary canticles in a week's time are sluggards (nimis intertem) in the performance oftheir devotion. Since we read that our holy fathers performed the whole Psalter with great labor in one day, let us at least do so in a whole week, despite our tepidity." RB 18.22-5. 422 "The time that remains after Vigils should be used for the learning (meditationi) of psalms and lessons by those brothers who need to do so." RB 8.3. 423 Leclercq states that "in the Middle Ages the reader usually pronounced the words with his lips, at least in a low tone, and consequently he hears the sentence seen by the eyes." What results, Leclercq describes, "is a muscular memory ofthe words pronounced and an aural memory ofthe words heard. The meditatio consists in applying oneself with attention to this exercise in total memorization; it is, therefore, inseparable from the lectio. It is what inscribes, so to speak, the sacred text in the body and in the soul." Leclercq, Love ofLearning, 72-3. 424 See Terrence G. Kardong, "John Cassian's Evaluation of Monastic Practices," The American Benedictine Review 43 (1992): 82-105 and Adalbert de VogUe, "Les deux functions de la meditation dans les Regles monastiques anciennes," Revue de historie de spiritualite (1975): 3-16; "Les mentiones des 133

3. Geographic and Spatial References

A complex and contemplative approach to Scripture-"a prayerful reading," as

Leclercq describes it425_was part and parcel ofhow monks read Scripture and one with

which Isaac would have been thoroughly acquainted. The writings ofmonks-whether

Eastern or Western, fifth- or twelfth-century-must be read with this approach in mind so

as not to read into a text our own presuppositions or ask ofa text a question that is neither

relevant nor even in the mind ofthe author.

Monastic writers now and in centuries past write neither to obfuscate nor

complicate. Rather, they seek to address issues that are above and beyond the physical

and temporal; at the very least, such issues are not their primary interest. Consider yet

again Cassian. In both the Institutes and Conferences, Cassian wanted to provide his

readers with a practical account ofthe lives of the Egyptian monks about whom he wrote.

"He was not, however, writing a gazetteer ofEgyptian monasticism," Stewart asserts,

"and the goal ofmonastic instruction determined both the structure and the content ofhis

writings. Details about landscape and people are primarily illustrative, included to lend

both atmosphere and authority to his own synthesis of monastic theology.,,426

Cassian's primary intention, in other words, was theological and not geographical

or historical. Not just in Cassian's writings but in monastic writing in general the former

is superior to the latter. Two examples will illustrate this and, more important, shed light

on how we should interpret Isaac's sermons and the seemingly historical and

Oeuvres de Cassian chez saint Benoit," Studia Monastica 20 (1978): 275-285; "Psalmodie et priere. Remarques sur l'office de saint Benoit," Collectanea Cisterciensia 44 (1982): 274-292. 425 Leclercq, Love ofLearning, 73. 426 Stewart, Cassian, 7. "When one moves from incidental remarks about Egypt to the narrative level," Stewart continues, "Cassian's theological intentions predominate: for him, history is in the details, and the bigger picture is theological." Ibid. 134 geographical references his makes therein. The first has to do with the geography of early Christian and in particular Egyptian monasticism. James E. Goehring's collection of essays, Ascetics, Society, and the Desert: Studies in Early Egyptian Monasticism, focuses on the variety of ascetic movements in Egypt during the late-third through fourth centuries.427 Goehring has discovered that Egyptian monasticism was not a desert phenomenon. Using leases, tax receipts, sales contracts, correspondence, and other non­ monastic sources, Goehring argues that there were numerous ascetics living in inhabited areas and that village monasticism in particular was much more common than has been assumed.

Goehring's essay, "The Encroaching Desert: Literary Production and Ascetic

Space in Early Christian Egypt," is especially useful for my purposes since he demonstrates that the common narrative ofEgyptian monasticism is fundamentally flawed. 428 The documentary papyri show that ascetics lived in towns and villages and interacted with their neighbors. More important, Goehring describes the role ofvitae and later hagiographical accounts ofEgyptian monasticism in shaping the common understanding ofthe desert as the locus par excellence of ascetic struggle.

To begin with, Goehring calls attention to the earlier pre-Christian dichotomy between the desert and the city. "The city, the product of human achievement and the locus of human habitation, has become symbolically the center of evil," he writes.

"Truth has left the city, and presumably only falsehood remains. Truth now resides alone

427 Goehring, James E. Ascetics, Society, and the Desert: Studies in Early Egyptian Monasticism (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity; Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1999). 428 Goehring, "Encroaching Desert," 73-88. 135

in the desert.,,429 The dichotomy was therefore symbolic or rhetorical rather then 43o spatia1.

For early Christian monastic literature the literary or metaphorical juxtaposition of

desert and city was an irresistible but not necessarily a literal one. However much

references to the desert did not reflect historical reality, they did serve an important

purpose. "By connecting the common metaphorical use of the desert/city dichotomy with

earlier monastic views of withdrawal," Goehring argues, "the image necessary for literary

production was forged. ,,431

When village asceticism did move to the desert, it inspired the hagiographical

accounts that became well known to a wider Christian audience. The less exotic varieties

ofvillage monasticism never attained such notoriety or received comparable attention.

But village monasticism remained a vital element in the Egyptian monastic milieu.432

The literary device of the desert became a powerful one and exerted a tremendous influence on subsequent monastic literature. But it began as just that: a literary device

429 Ibid., 73. 430 "Alongside the metaphorical connection of the city with falsehood and the desert with truth appears the earlier and seemingly opposite view that associates the areas ofhuman habitation with life and the desert with death. The importance of this latter image in early monastic literature indicates that its authors did not simply equate the truth ofthe desert with the absence of evil. Its truth lay rather in the clarity it offered the monk on the reality and nature of evil. The battle against evil was a battle against the demonic, and in the desert the demons had fewer places to hide. If ascetic life in the desert made the struggle with evil easier, it did so only in the sense that it made it more direct. In the desert, there was less to distract the monk from the fight and fewer ways for the enemy to confuse him." Ibid., 75. 431 "In the accounts of early Egyptian monasticism," Goehring continues, "the metaphorical use of city and desert has interacted with the concepts ofwithdrawal (avaXffipT](m;) and renunciation (ano'"Ca~tc;) in such a way as to impart to these terms a distinct spatial dimension alongside their more original legal or ethical meaning. Christian renunciation of or withdrawal from traditional societal expectations (family, sex, property, business, etc.), which initially could occur within the home, the village, or the city, became in the literary sources of early Egyptian monasticism demands for physical separation from the society at large. Withdrawal to the desert or enclosure behind monastery walls became, in this literature, the visible expression ofthe ethical, ascetical stance." Ibid., 77. 432 Note Goehring's remark: "The term desert itself thus represents a continuum of possible ascetic locations defined in terms of distance from the settled social world of Egyptian society; while it is always inarable land, it need not be land beyond the fertile zone. Its meaning in monastic literature has as much or more to do with the concept of withdrawal from the space traditionally occupied by civilization as it does with any precise definition based on annual precipitation." Ibid., 81. 136

and not the record of historical reality. "Only when ascetic practices began to express renunciation spatially did literary production ensue, because only then was the necessary

'literary metaphor' at hand," Goehring writes. "The act ofindividuals withdrawing to the

desert found harmonic response in the city-desert metaphor already established in the literary world.,,433

A "literary metaphor" but not something that necessarily conforms to historical reality. The latter was not, however, of great concern to the early writers who produced some of the earliest works of Christian monasticism. Their interests were not primarily in recording a history but rather a theology ofmonasticism.434

Isaac undoubtedly would have been familiar with some of this monastic literature; his audience as well. Historical reality, therefore, was neither expected nor sought, at least not primarily. What was expected, however, was a theology of monasticism, a theology rooted in Scripture and experience, both of which Isaac provided for his hearers as we shall see.

433 Ibid., 86. Goehring also notes a fascinating reversal that occurred at this time, one that would be taken by many later historians as historical fact: "The [monastic] literature's dependence on the desert, however, caused a 'literary' reversal of sorts in the expansion process. Whereas the location of ascetic practice had expanded to include the desert, in the literary model, the desert encroached more and more on the portrayal of ascetic space. A literary 'desertification' of Egyptian monasticism occurred. While monks in and near the cities and villages continued to thrive, they all but disappeared from the plane ofhistory. The desert hermit became the symbolic center ofEgyptian monasticism. The literary icon conquered history." Ibid., 88. This is redolent ofPeter Brown's comment that "(t)he myth of the desert was one of the most abiding creations oflate antiquity. It was, above all, a myth ofliberating precision." Brown continues: "It delimited the towering presence of 'the world,' from which the Christian must be set free, by emphasizing a clear ecological frontier. It identified the process of disengagement from the world with a move from one ecological zone to another, from the settled land ofEgypt to the desert. It was a brutally clear boundary, already heavy with immemorial associations." Peter R. L. Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (Lectures on the History of Religions 2!l3; New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), 216; see also 256-7. 434 "Of interest to the modem historian, historical reality is not the version of Egyptian monasticism which forms the movement's ascetic heroes. The latter are rather the product of a monastic literature which captures the reader's interest through the simplicity and power of its myth." Goehring, Ascetics, 85. "Only when ascetic practices began to express renunciation spatially did literary production ensue," Goehring continues, "because only then was the necessary 'literary metaphor' at hand. The act of individuals withdrawing to the desert found harmonic response in the city-desert metaphor already established in the literary world." Ibid., 86. 137

In "Understanding Cassian: A Survey of the Conferences,,,435 Adalbert de Vogue focuses on neither the conceptual nor doctrinal framework of the Conferences but rather the structure itself.436 Like Goehring, VOgiie argues that historical reality was not

Cassian's primary concern but rather theology. "(T)his quasi-exclusive interest in the thematic content, at the expense ofthe literary container, limits the understanding of the doctrine itself," he avers.

The composition ofthe different themes within Cassian's works has its importance, just as do the themes themselves. Certainly it is profitable to isolate these themes to scrutinize them more deeply, or to organize them into a system which satisfies our logical needs. But when that has been done, we still have to ask ourselves just why Cassian did not treat them separately and did not assemble them in our way, but connected them in his own way so as to constitute the volumes called the Institutions and the Conferences.437

Cassian offers the Conferences as a record of discussions Germanus and he had with 10 ascetics around Scetis and the Nile Delta. Vogiie asks: "(I)s not the order ofthe

Conferences purely historical, that is, fortuitous? Does not Cassian give us these interviews in their chronological sequence, each of them simply occurring in their place in time...?,,438 Ostensibly, but Vogue discerns Cassian's larger and decidedly theological intention for the Conferences. Cassian's intention is to provide a theology of monasticism in a didactic or pedagogical way:

435 Adalbert de Vogiie, "Understanding Cassian: A Survey ofthe Conferences," CSQ 19 (1984): 101-121. N.b.: This is John-Baptist Hasbrouck's ET of "Pour comprendre Cassien: Un survo1 des Conferences," Collectanea cisterciensia 39 (1979): 250-72. 436 Ibid., 101-2. 437 Ibid., 102. 438 Ibid. 138

On the whole, Cassian's indications about time leave room, expressly or tacitly, for a certain effort of composition. Even if we suppose that his Conferences report quite faithfully the interviews with the Fathers mentioned-and sometimes there is reason to doubt this-he himself says in one instance and permits us to think in others that these accounts are arranged, at least in part, in a non-chronological order. .. The scenario ofthe meetings of Cassian and Germanus with the old men, the apparently fortuitous circumstances which provoke the questions, the seemingly episodic titles of some Conferences-none ofall this should conceal from us the unity of design pursued by our author and the method by which he realizes it.439

The Conferences, in other words, were neither gazetteer nor reportage but rather

history in the service oftheology. This is an approach shared by Isaac, who was undoubtedly familiar with Cassian and whose sermons in particular evince a similar complex approach toward historical reality.

4. Isaac's Sermons a. Isaac on Allegory

At the outset I must mention Isaac's use of the allegorical interpretation of

Scripture in his sermons.440 Isaac's preference for allegory is manifest. At the end of

439 Ibid., 103-4. "Cassian's historical intention was to describe his own experiences as a young monk living in Palestine and Egypt," Stewart writes. "He writes about places he visited and people he met, informing his readers about monastic structures and practices. These 'historical' elements create the framework for his writings. Although he was writing neither travelogue nor history, he grounded his teaching in a tradition he sought to present faithfully even as he adapted and developed it. ..Therefore, although the great Egyptian monks to whom Cassian attributes the Conferences were historical figures, he uses them and the literary structure he creates for them as a monastic allegory designed to lead his readers to true doctrine and traditional monasticism." Stewart, Cassian, 27-8. Burton-Christie similarly notes that Cassian was not writing history per se when he states (citing Louis Bouyer) that the Conferences are "a later systematization" of the Apophthegmata. Burton-Christie, Word, 94. 440 Hemi de Lubac's Medieval Exegesis, trans. Mark Sebanc (Ressourcement; Grand Rapids, Mich., and Edinburgh: Eerdmans and T. & T., 1998-2009. 3 vols.), remains invaluable for the history of the allegorical method ofbiblical interpretation. For the Middle Ages in particular, Beryl Smalley's The Study ofthe Bible in the Middle Ages (3d ed.; Notre Dame: University ofNotre Dame Press, 1982) remains useful. See also Wanda Cizewski, "Biblical Interpretation," in Dictionary ofthe Middle Ages, 1980 ed., 2: 223-4. 139

Sermon 11, Isaac tells the monks: "However, brothers, I see that I have not quite satisfied

your desires."

You very much prefer that the moral sense be explained, so that you may be built up on the foundation on which you rest. Be sure that I shall, as far as may be given to me, try to comply with your wishes, although I admit my own preference is for the delight I find in the allegorical sense.441

Similarly in Sermon 9, where Isaac treats the wedding at Cana (John 2), he tells

his monks: "As I think about this wedding, brothers, I confess I am delighted not as much

by the great and outward miracle as by the inner meaning of the mystery. That [i.e.,

former] builds up one's faith, the latter does something even greater. While the first is a

sign for unbelievers, the other has a mysterious message for believers. Both help our

spiritual life and delight us, each is great, each is divine. ,,442

In Sermons 14 and 15, a pair of sermons on the storm at sea in Matt 8, Isaac's

allegorical approach is abundantly clear. Isaac's main concern in Sermon 14 is acedia

(Greek: UK1l8EtU), the spiritual listlessness or torpor which Cassian describes in Institutes

10 as the "distress of heart" (anxietatem cordis).443 According to Isaac, Christ slept in

order to awaken the disciples "whose hearts were asleep." Christ taught them "how

perilous it was for them ifthey should allow their Master to be still, to be inactive, to

441 Sed video,jraters, exspectationi vestrae non satisfecisse me, qui moralem sensum, quo superaedificeminifundamento, in quo positi estis, avidius bibitis. Geremus ergo vobis, pro facultate nobis indulta, morem, sedfateor, contra nostrum morem, quem utique mysteria magis delectant. Sermon 11.16. SC 130: 248; PL 194: 1729C-D. 442 Sermon 9.1. Cogitantem me, jraters, de his nuptiis, fateor, magis delectate interius mysterium, quam exterius tem magnum miraculum. Istud enim fidem aedificat, illud superaedificat. Istud infidelibus signum, illudfidelibus sacramentum. Utrumque tamen utile, utrumque delectabile, utrumque magnum, utrumque divinum. SC 130: 204; PL 194: 1719B-C. 443 Institutes 10.1. SC 109: 384. 140

sleep.,,444 Isaac opposes leisure and laziness--"Wisdom is learned at leisure, but not by

the lazy,,445--and from these refers to Mary and Martha: "Martha labored, Mary was still

but not inactive.,,446 It was their brother, Lazarus, who was "idle and listless within" and

"rush(ed) from inactivity to death, and from death to corruption.,,447 Many fail at being

active like Martha and devoted like Mary: they suffer from, according to Isaac, "the

weariness ofsloth.,,448

Christ, Isaac relates, "allowed himself to fall asleep for the benefit of the sickly

apostles or whom they signify, so that at least in their peril they might wake him.,,449

Christ sleeps to show the inner state ofthe disciples: "Their inner state was shown by his

outward state.,,450 "Sleeping," Isaac offers to his monks, "he condemns by the word of

the tempest that spiritual sloth which is followed by such confusion of mind as makes it a

sort of interior and intolerable storrn.,,451 By being awake and calm, however, Christ

demonstrates "the need for vigilance and spiritual eagerness.,,452

444 Sermon 14.1. Quod, ditectissimi, nisi corpore dormiens, operatus est Dominus, unde discipulos quasi corde dormientes excitaret? Dormiens enim operata est virtus, producens ventos de thesauris suis, et omnino sitens et dormiens locutum est Verbum, docens periculosum discipulisjore, se magistrum sitere, torpere, dormire siverint. SC 130: 270; PL 194: 1735A. 445 Sermon 14.1. Sapientia quidem in otio, sed non in otiositate discitur. SC 130: 270; PL 194: 1735B. 446 Sermon 14.2. Laborabat Martha, vacabat Maria, non languebat. SC 130: 270; PL 194: 1735B. 447 Sermon 14.2. Lazarus vero languebat, de languore mortem, de mortejetorem incurrens. 0 quanti hodie ab utititate operasjoris quieti, intus desides et acediosi. SC 130: 270; PL 194: 1735B. 448 Sermon 14.2. ... desidiae languorem incurrerunt. SC 130: 270; PL 194: 1735B. 449 Sermon 14.3. Et sicut ibi languentem sinit Domnus in mortem venire, ut inde suscitaretur, ita et hic quasi languentibus, vel tales significantibus apostolis voluit ipse dormire, ut a periclitantibus saltem excitaretur. SC 130: 272; PL 194: 1735C. 450 Sermon 14.3. Quod intus errant,joris eis ostendit. SC 130: 272; PL 194: 1735C. 451 Sermon 14.4. Dormiens quippe tempestatis verba detestatur acediam, quamjluctuatio cogitationum sequitur, quasi interna quaedam et intolerabilis procella. SC 130: 272; PL 194: 1735D. 452 Sermon 14.4. ...qui excitatus et vigilans mentis vigitantiam etjervorem spiritus tranquillitatis sermone commendat. SC 130: 272; PL 194: 1735D. 141

453 Isaac complains about monks nodding off and sleeping in the chapter house and

uses this to press home his point concerning the importance of remaining awake and

vigilant. "If you keep from sleeping," Isaac reports, "(Christ) will always watch over

yoU.,,454 The monastic triumvirate of reading, meditation and prayer is crucial in the

struggle to remain vigilant as Isaac describes. "There are three," he offers to his monks,

"reading, meditation and prayer. By reading or preaching, and that [i.e., the latter] is a kind ofreading, God speaks to you. ,,455

Continuing the sleep imagery, Isaac urges his monks to keep awake and guard against acedia. He focuses on the deceptiveness of acedia: some monks think they have overcome passions and need no longer face them. Others-less advanced

(imperjectioribus)-think that since their basic needs are met they are secure:

Let us stay awake, brothers, and guard against the plague of spiritual listlessness (acediae pestem), that often comes from immature confidence and infects those who have made progress. They tell themselves that, having overcome all bad tendencies, they may lie down to rest in security, with nothing to frighten them; for the less advanced, the fact that 456 their bodily needs are taken care ofleaves them nothing more to do.

453 Sermon 14.6. "Where is the excuse ofthose who sleep over their books in the cloister, or who snore during readings in chapel, or who sleep during the preaching of sermons in the chapter house?" Ubi sunt, qui super libros suos in claustris conquiniscunt, ad lections in oratoriis stertunt, vel ad vivam vocem sermonum in capitulis dormiunt? SC 130: 274; PL 194: 1736A-B. 454 Sermon 14.6. Enimvero nisi illi dorm ire prius coeperis, semper tibi pervigil erit. SC 130: 274; PL 194: 1736A. 455 Sermon 14.7. Tria sunt, lectio, meditation et oratio. Lectione vel sermone, qui et ipse quaedam lectio est, loquitur tibi Deus. SC 130: 274; PL 194: 1736B. Isaac goes on to state that undoubtedly "reading, meditation and prayer are the entire exercise ofthe spiritual mind" (lectione, meditatione, oratione, omnis est exercitatio dumtaxat sensus spiritualis). SC 130: 274,276; PL 194: 1736C. 456 Sermon 14.10. Vigilemus itaque, fratres, et plurimum contra acediae pestem, quam immature securitas parere solet, et in perfectioribus quidem bonae conscientiae quasi iam vitUs abactis secure accubent, cum non sit qui exterreat; in imperjectioribus vero corporalium necessitudinum, utpote quibus, alUs cuncta providentibus, de facili omnia constant. SC 130: 276; PL 194: 1736D. 142

This is why the Fathers advocated poverty both in reality and spirit-"in property

and spirit," as Isaac says457_in order that the monks remain humble. The very location

ofthe monastery itself, Isaac relates, contributes to the practice ofhumility as well:

"Therefore, dearest friends, you have the reason why we led you into this distant, arid and

rough wilderness. Here you can be as humble as possible and cannot be wealthy.,,458

Here in the "desert" where Isaac has led his monks one could also seek solitude

and silence in which to be with God: "solitude upon solitude, silence upon silence. We

are more and more forced to silence among ourselves, but only that we may converse all

the more freely and familiarly with you alone.,,459 In their "exile" (exsilium) there is time

for prayer, meditation and reading but also the necessity ofwork.46o Most important, as

Isaac reports, the monks are to steel themselves and remain vigilant, remaining "vigilant

to (Christ), that (Christ) would not sleep to yoU.,,461

Isaac concludes Sermon 14 by begging to be rescued from the storm that

surrounds him (an allusion to Psalm 54).462 He also calls his monks to obey Christ, to remain vigilant and "obey him who lives and rule.,,463 This call to obedience, so crucial to Isaac, is fundamental to his interpretation of the text, since one is obedient to Christ by remaining awake and vigilant,464

457 Sermon 14.10. ... id est paupertatem census et spiritus... SC 130: 276; PL 194: 1736D­ 1737A. 458 Sermon 14.11. Eapropter, dilectissimi, et vos in hanc semotam, aridam, et squalentem induximus solitudinem. Callide quidem, ubi humiles esse potestis, divites non potestis. SC 130: 276; PL 194: 1737A. 459 Sermon 14.12. Superaccrevit etiam, Domine, super solitudinem solitudo, silentium super silentium. Nam et tibi soli disertiores et assuetiores simus, a nobis invicem silere cogimur et cogimur. SC 130: 278; PL 194: 1737B. 460 Sermon 14.13. SC 130: 278; PL 194: 1737B-C. 461 Sermon 14.14. Vigilate illi, ne vobis dormiat ille. SC 130: 278; PL 194: 1737C. 462 Sermon 14.16. SC 130: 280; PL 194: 1737D. 463 Sermon 14.16. Quodprocul dubio, jratres, et nobis et vobis fiet, si obedierimus ei qui vivit et regnat. Amen. SC 130: 280; PL 194: 1738A. 464 See Sermon 14.14. 143

Isaac continues his allegorical commentary on the storm at sea (Matt 8) in Sermon

15. At the outset, he again describes his preference for and the importance of allegory.

"Let us draw from outer sights a lesson for the inner life," he tells his monks.465 Given the maritime theme of his text, Isaac continues to use seafaring and shipwreck imagery.

Isaac states that "coming into a corruptible body means coming into death" and that we are "shipwrecked upon being bom.,,466

Isaac twice refers to the remoteness ofthe monastery467 as being part and parcel of the crosses borne by the monks as well as himself. The remoteness to which Isaac refers, therefore, ought not to be taken literally or as historical data since Isaac's point is to emphasize his teaching on the monastic life. This is clear when Isaac interprets the meaning of Christ falling asleep on the boat. Christ's sleeping on the boat is a symbol of death on the Cross: "To sleep in the boat is to die on the crosS.,,468

The death of Christ, however, is likewise not just an historical datum. Isaac interprets Christ's Passion and death as establishing the monastic life. Ascetic struggle,

Isaac tells his monks, is part and parcel of sharing Christ's suffering: "It must be that all the members should suffer with their Head when he suffers; yes, that the entire Christ should suffer, be made perfect through suffering and thus enter into his glory.,,469

This is why Isaac can speak ofthe life ofthe disciple of Christ and in particular that of a monk as being one ofco-crucifixion with Christ. "If persecution from others be

465 Sermon 15.1. (E)xteriora visa ad interiorem eruditionem trahamus. SC 130: 282; PL 194: 1738B. 466 Sermon 15.2. Unde ex quo venimus in carnem hand corruptibilem, utique venimus in mortem ... non prius nati quam naufragio SC 130: 284; PL 194: 1738B-C. See also Isaac's use of maritime imagery in Psalm 68 in Sermon 15.3. 467 In Sermon 15.7, Isaac speaks of the abditam eremum (SC 130: 286; PL 194: 1739B) and in 15.12 he refers to the remotae solitudinis (SC 130: 290; PL 194: I740A). 468 Sermon 15.8. Dormire quippe in navi, in cruce est mori. SC 130: 288; PL 194: 1739C. 469 Sermon 15.10. Necesse est omnino omnia membra compati, ubi patitur caput; totumque Christum pati, etpassione consummari, et sic introire in gloriam suam. SC 130: 288; PL 194: 1739D. 144

lacking," Isaac states, "the outer self of Jesus' disciples is to be 'crucified with all its

vices and desires,' [Gal 5:24] while the inner self must hang with Jesus on the pillory of

obedience; as a humble disciple should be able in everything to address his spiritual

father with the words, 'Abba, father, not what I wish, but what you will' [Mark

14:36].,,470 Or as Isaac puts it bluntly when speaking of obedience: "I pray, what is this

dependence on the will of another but for Christ's love to be nailed, to be crucified with

Christ?,,471

Indeed, Isaac is adamant that the monk's obedience is to follow nothing other than

Christ's obedience to the Father. Isaac is adamant as well that Christ's obedience was motivated by nothing other than love, even when such obedience led Christ to condemn the scribes and Pharisees. As Isaac avers in Sermon 8: "Thus the spirit of fortitude gave him such love for justice, that for its sake, though it cost him his life he spoke out, he made no exceptions, he pronounced repeatedly: 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, and to you, lawyers, woe! ",472 Christ is, therefore, the example par excellence of obedience motivated by love, a love that can cost one one's own life and, as Isaac explains, a proof of a love of which there is no greater.

Isaac again stresses the importance of reading, meditation and prayer as important tools in the monastic arsenal. "Reading, meditation or prayer" rouses Christ from sleeping in our regard, especially when monks face typical temptations: "sickness,

470 Sermon 15.6. Et si desit externus persecutor, crucifigendus est a discipulis Iesu homo suus exterior cum vitiis et concupiscentiis; interior quoque patibulo obedientiae Iesu conjigendus, ut in omnibus omnino dicat patri spirituali humilis discipulus: Abba pater, non quod ego volo, sed quod tu vis. SC 130: 286; PL 194: 1739A-B. 471 Sermon 15.7. Quid est hoc, obsecro, nisi quibusdam obedientiae davis alienae iussionis rigori affigi pro Christo, crucifigi cum Christo? SC 130: 288; PL 194: 1739B. 472 Sermon 8.15. Ita spiritu fortitudinis amans iustitiam, ut propter eam usque ad mortem nemini tacendo parceret, sicut saepius repetit: Vae vobis, Scribae et Pharisaei, et vobis, legisperiti, vae! SC 130: 202; PL 194: 1719A. 145 poverty, hard training, or prolonged dwelling, be it the frustration that results from the remoteness ofthe monastery and its profound silence.,,473 This is so since the monastic practice ofreading, meditation and prayer--ofreading Scripture above all-seeks to provide the monk, as we have seen, with an ingressus or way of entering the biblical world and understanding his own surroundings and experience on the basis of Scripture.

This reading of Scripture patterns the monk's world and practice. The pattern par excellence, as Isaac again asserts, is Christ himself. Christ is our pattern as well as our power to obtain victory in struggle, "not only the pattern in the fight, but also the courage to victory.,,474 Since Christ is the "supreme pattern" (formam praetendit), Isaac encourages his monks to press on and continue their struggle, assuring them that they are partners in Christ's sufferings as well as his glory.475

Lubac observes that while Isaac at times treats mysterium and tropology together,

"when he distinguishes them, his preference is manifest: he does what he can, he says, to meet the expectations of his religious, who always avidly drink up the moral sense, but this is under compulsion; for himself, he pays attention above all to the mystery; it is the contemplation of the mystery which delights him above a11.,,476 In Sermon 16, for example, Isaac discusses that his "purpose is not to explain the readings from the holy

473 Sermon 15.12. Ideofratres, quoties tentatio vos apprehendit, sive injirmitatis, sive paupertatis, sive durioris disciplinae, aut prolongatioris incolatus, taedii etiam tam remotae solitudinis, et profundi silentii, sive cuiuscumque generic, quae prorsus innumerabilia sunt, legendo, meditando, orando, excitemus nobis Christum dormientem. SC 130: 290; PL 194: 1740A-B. 474 Sermon 15.13. (N)on solamformam adpugnam, sed et virtutem ad victoriam. SC 130: 290; PL 194: 1740B. 475 Sermon 15.15. SC 130: 292; PL 194: 1740D. 476 Lubac, Medieval Exegesis 2: 158. 146

Gospels as it is to take the opportunity they offer to say something toward the edification

ofthe brothers and ofourselves.,,477

b. Circumstantial Details

Isaac often refers to circumstantial details in his sermons, those incidental or

quotidian bits ofinformation that seem to provide little more than an aside in the midst of

his preaching. References to the monks' labor,478 the lateness ofthe day in which Isaac 479 preaches as well as certain monks who have nodded off in the course ofthe sermon or

liturgy dot Isaac's sermons. 480 But Isaac often intends more than providing a charming

digression or Sitz im Leben when he refers to the setting or time of day in which he

preaches. "When Isaac mentions contemporary events or incidental details ofthe setting

in which the sermons is given," Dietz writes, "there is usually a close connection between

that information and the message of the sermon.,,481

Isaac frequently refers to how he has endeavored to situate his preaching during a

pause in the day's work so as not to interfere with the monks' labor. At the end of

Sermon 9, for example, Isaac refers to the length ofhis sermon and that "the hour is now

so late that only with difficulty shall we be able to fulfill the morning's allotted work.,,482

Note, however, Isaac's comment at the conclusion ofSermon 7:

477 Sermon 16.5. Non enim sancti Evangelii lections tam suscipimus exponere quam accepta abinde occasione ad aedificationem jratrum, et nostrum. SC 130: 296; PL 194: 1741 D. 478 Sermon 8.1; 9.20; 11.16-7; 19.24; 23.20; 25.10. 479 Sermon 16.15; 24.23. 480 Sermon 14.6. 481 Dietz, "Exile," 153. 482 Sermon 9.20. Sed dum detinuimus sermone diem, hora/ere praeteriit, ut sine difficultate pensum matutini laboris iam solvere non possimus. SC 130: 218-20; PL 194: 1723A. 147

Now, most beloved ones, we must leave off these words and finish what remains of today's work. Perhaps there we may fmd Jesus. For you remember that Sara, finding Isaac, found laughter in the open. May it be given us to fmd, inside and outside, the same one (i.e., Christ), very joy, thanks to him who lives and reigns as God. Amen.483

Here Isaac is summarizing the theme ofthis sermon rather than referring to

Stella's daily schedule. Note, for example, Isaac's repeated references to "finding" 484 Christ in connection with the text (that of finding Christ in the Temple, i.e., Luke 2:42) as well as the importance of continually searching for Jesus: "Nevertheless you will tum back from your evil way, where you walked without Jesus, ifyour conversion does not become a search. For the joy of finding him is obtained by carefully searching for him.,,485

Isaac likewise begins Sermon 24 by stating: "And so, very tired with our striving to win a seedling from the earth, let us rest a little under the shade and tum inward to the great effort ofthreshing, grinding, mixing, baking, and eating the seed ofthe divine

Word, lest we grow hungry and tired.,,486 McGinn, and I think rightly, understands this as "a highly sophisticated allusion to Virgil's First Eclogue ('tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi,' Eel. 1,1).,,487 In any case, accepting Bouyer's suggesting that Isaac here is

483 Sermon 7.17. Sed nobis hie, dilectissimi, silendum est, ut ad modicum quod restat diurni surgamus. Fortassis et ibi invenietur Iesus. Nam etforis a Sara repertus est Isaac, id est risus, quem nobis et intus etforis praestet invenire, ipse qui vivit et regnat Deus. Amen. SC 130: 190; PL 194: 1716A. Although Hoste follows Migne in having Sara rather than Rebekah, Isaac apparently refers to Gen 24:62-4. 484 Sermon 7.6, 7,15. 485 Sermon 7.17. Frustra tamen reverteris a via tua mala, ubi sine Iesu ambulabas, si non converses quaeris. Nam diligentia inquisitionis laetitiam meretur inventionis. SC 130: 190; PL 194: 1715D-I716A. 486 Sermon 24.1. Itaque ob terrenum semen nimisfatigati, sub patulae, quam prope cernitis, ilicis tegmine paulisper reclinemus,ubi etiam non sine interno quodam sudore divini nobis Verbi semen excutiamus, molamus, conspergamus, coquamus, edamus, ne ieiuni etfatigati dejiciamus. SC 207: 98; PL 194: 1768D-1769A. 487 McGinn, Golden Chain, 28n.121. ET: "You, Tityrus, lie under your spreading beech's covert, wooing the woodland Muse on slender reed, but we are leaving our country's bounds and sweet fields." Virgil, Eel. 1.1 (Fairclough, LCL). 148

providing an indication oflocal color seems to overlook the sophistication of Isaac's use

ofliterary devices in his sermons.488

c. Historical Details

Considering how Isaac revealed very little about himself in his works, it follows

that he provides little information concerning contemporary events or people. Historical

details, however, are not altogether lacking. In the De officio missae to Bellesmains, for

example, Isaac ends with a complaint about a vengeful neighbor, Hugh of Chavigny, who

apparently forced his way into the community during Isaac's absence.489 Likewise in the

Epistola de anima to AIcher, Isaac ends with references to hardships such as plague and

famine. 49o

When we tum to Isaac's sermons themselves, we discover only a paucity of historical information. While scholars and historians in particular may find this maddening, it is in keeping with the genre ofmedieval monastic sermon as well as

Isaac's responsibilities as an abbot. "The twelfth-century monastic sermon generally deals with themes relevant to monastic life and theology," Kienzle remarks, "hence it is primarily inward-looking and experiential, that is, directed to life within the monastery

488 Bouyer, Cistercian Heritage, 167-8. 489 De officio missae. "(H)e injured some ofthe community and heaped up in my absence many threats and dishonorable insults. He seized eight oxen and, I suppose, already sold them; and still fights in the same way. Above the roofs he states he will take vengeance on me for everything the English have done." (D)efamilia quosdam ... injuriam ...personam absentem contumeliis, et minas multas et inhonestas. De bobus octo rapuit, et, ut putamus, jam vendidit; et adhuc manus ejus extenta. Super tecta jam loquitur quod in me de omnibus Anglis ulciscetur. PL 194: 1896B. 490 Epistola de anima. "For this year upon our territories the evils ofpestilence and famine have arrived, such as no previous generation, it is believed, has seen." Venerunt enim hoc anno super regiones nostras mala pestilentiae etfamis, qualia omnia retro saecula, utputatur, non viderunt. PL 194: 1889D­ 1890A. 149

and to the monks' inner spiritual progress.,,491 While writing about Middle English

sermons, H. L. Spencer's comments are it propos:

(P)reachers are rarely topical. That which is of the moment is only momentary. It is worth saying again, as this study and others in this collection have emphasised, that a historian must interpret what appear in sermons to be allusions to the contemporary scene with great care...(A)lthough the sermons are a product ofspecial historical circumstances which are accessible to historians to study, perhaps their most valuable lesson is to remind historians that writers' beliefs about their times, however much the product of historical mythologising, are themselves a part ofhistory.492

Isaac does not refrain completely, however, from referring to certain events ofhis day. He criticizes certain preachers who "preach themselves, eager to make a name for themselves when speaking of Jesus" in Sermon 18. 493 In Sermons 37 and 48, Isaac 494 criticizes monasteries involved in property disputes. Isaac refers to "destroyers of truth" in Sermon 48, presumably an heretical group that distorts Scripture and the writings ofthe Fathers.495 Again, as we saw with Isaac's remarks concerning obedience, we must first prove ourselves worthy by our behavior before presuming to preach, teach

491 Kienzle, The Sermon, 306. 492 Ibid., 634, 635-6. Kienzle continues: "The monastic sennan was (and is) generally inward­ looking, that is directed to life within the monastery and to the monk's spiritual progress. The extant texts provide a guide to monastic spirituality and theology and a glimpse of problems with the observance ofthe Rule. Seldom in the surviving sermons does the monastic preacher direct comments to life in the outside world...The sennons ofHelinand ofFroidmont are exceptional for their concern with contemporary problems and seem to reflect in part the movement from the contemplative spirituality of the Cistercians to the active life of the friars." Ibid., 271-2. 493 Sermon 18.5. Timeo ne sit hodie qui se ipsum praedicet; sibi, de lesu loquendo, nomenfacere cupiat. SC 207: 10; PL 194: 1750B. Note, however, that Isaac's older contemporary, Guibert ofNogent (ca. 1055-ca. 1125), suggests in his early treatise, Liber quo ordine sermo fieri debeat (ca. 1080; PL 156: 19C-32C), that even those preachers with ignoble or disingenuous motives may still benefit others. See Wanda Zemler-Cizewski, "Guibert of Nogent's How to Preach a Sermon," TS 59 (1998): 406-19. Commenting on Guibert's treatise, Wanda Zemler-Cizewski states: "Daringly, Guibert suggests that those who ostentatiously preach from the profit motive benefit others and harm only themselves. As such they are preferable to those who haughtily conceal their useful knowledge, thereby doing good neither to themselves nor to others." Ibid., 411. Zemler-Cizewski continues: "Nevertheless, despite the evil intention with which such individuals proclaim the gospel, others do benefit. No one, therefore, who preaches the word offaith is to be rejected, because even the mercenary may usefully serve." Ibid. 494 Sermons 37.22-5 and 48.8. 495 Sermon 48.5. See note in SC 339: 310-1. 150 or otherwise set ourselves up as examples. "What he is in the open, that he is in secret,"

Isaac counsels. "What he is in outward appearance, that he is his heart.,,496

As few and far between as his references to historical events are, Isaac provides more than digressions that "furnish tidbits about the world outside.,,497 Rather than giving his audience incidental asides, Isaac intends to bolster his arguments or provide an example. In Sermon 48, for instance, Isaac says he is not going to go into great detail in order that he does not trap the monks in a kind of curiositas that leads them always to wanting new and different experiences: "Curiosity truly is the mother of all vanity.,,498

The same may be said ofIsaac's brief reference to a military order toward the end of

Sermon 48.

While not unknown in Isaac's sermons, historical details are clearly subordinated to the teaching that Isaac means to provide. Historical information, therefore, is a device

Isaac uses to form his hearers in the monastic life. In the same way with the circumstantial details to which Isaac refers, historical information serves a larger purpose in Isaac's sermons than that of identifying contemporary events and figures.

496 Sermon 31.8. (S)ed qualis in aperto, talis in abscondito; qualis infacie, talis in corde. SC 207: 196; PL 194: l79lC. 497 Kienzle, Sermon, 309. 498 Sermon 48.15. Curiositas enim mater est omnis vanitatis. SC 339: 166; PL: l855D. See also Sermon 48.5 where Isaac states: "You are all inquisitive hearers." Curiosi auditores omnes vos estis. SC 339: 154; PL 194: l853B. The Latin is worth noting, for Isaac as well as Bernard understood curiositas negatively. Note that at the beginning ofSermon 2, Isaac states: "The evil ofcuriosity closely follows the vice ofpride." Sermon 2.1. Curiositatis malum sequitur superbiae vitium. SC 130: 98; PL 194: 1693D. Likewise Bernard, who places curiositas as the first of12 descending steps ofpride in his early (ca. 1120) treatise, De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae (SBO 3: 13-59; ET: The Steps ofHumility and Pride, trans. M. Ambrose Conway, in The Works ofBernard ofClairvaux: Treatises II [CF 13; Washington, D.C.: Cistercian Publications, 1974],29-82 ). 151 d. Geographic Details

Not unlike Cassian, Isaac's primary interest was not in providing either a travelogue or gazetteer. Whatever ofthe circumstantial or quotidian Isaac may reveal in his sermons, they are not his main interest. In Sermon 14, for example, Isaac refers to the

"remoteness ofthe desert we have chosen.,,499 Isaac also tells his monks:

On that account, dearest friends, you have the reason why we have led you into this remote, arid and rough wildemess...This is truly solitude worthy ofthe name, far out, at sea, cut off almost completely from the rest ofthe world. Here, destitute of all worldly comfort and all human solace, it should not be difficult to give worldliness a rest. What can the world offer us on this little island at the end ofthe world?sOO

This ought not necessarily to be taken as a literal, geographic reference. Isaac himself reports in Sermon 14 that the purpose oftheir "desert" was to practice humility undisturbed. "Here you can be as humble as you can be," he tells his monks, "you cannot be rich."SOI

Here in the "desert" where Isaac has led his monks one could also seek solitude and silence in which to be with God: "solitude upon solitude, silence upon silence. We are more and more forced to silence among ourselves, but only that we may converse all the more freely and familiarly with you alone."so2 In their "exile" (exsilium) there is time

499 Sermon 14.5. (R)emotiorem eremum elegimus. SC 130: 272; PL 194: 1735D. Note that Garda refers to Stella's remoteness. Garda, "Du nouveau," 21. 500 Sermon 14.11. Eapropter, dilectissimi, et vos in hanc semotam, aridam, et squalentem induximus solitudinem .. .In hanc, inquam, solitudinem solitudinum, ut in mari longe iacentem, cum orbe terrarium nihilferme commune habentem, quatenus ab omni saeculari, etfere humano solatio destituti, prorsus sileatis a mundo, quibus, praeter hanc modicam insulam, omnium terrarium ultimam iam nusquam estmundus. SC 130: 276-8; PL 194: 1737A. 501 Sermon 14. I 1. (U)bi humiles esse potestis, divites non potestis. SC 130: 276; PL 194: 1737A. 502 Sermon 14.12. Superaccrevit etiam, Domine, super solitudinem solitudo, silentium super silentium. Nam et tibi soli disertiores et assuetiores simus, a nobis invicem silere cogimur et cogimur. SC 130: 278; PL 194: 1737B. 152

for prayer, meditation and reading but also the necessity of work.503 Most important, as

Isaac argues, the monks are to steel themselves and remain vigilant, remaining "vigilant

to (Christ), that (Christ) would not sleep to YOU.,,504

In Sermon 18 Isaac provides the most vivid description ofthe remoteness of his

setting. Isaac and his monks, having been instructed by holy books so well, have

forsaken everything and have become cut off almost entirely from the rest ofthe world

and "(grasp) nakedly to the bare cross of the naked Christ, stripped and shipwrecked,

(having) been thrown up on this remote and ocean-confined island, we few have

escaped.,,505

Isaac, however, subordinates the location and poverty of the island to his teaching

on freedom from pride and wealth. Isaac laments those preachers in his day who "wish

to make a name for themselves when preaching of Jesus.,,506

Showing truths, they bring vanities; offering antidotes, they drink poison; the better they argue concerning humility, the worse their pride becomes; those who love riches preach concerning poverty; the covetous (concerning) contempt for worldly things; the greedy (concerning) mercy; the ambitious (concerning) being subject; and other similar things. 507

Isaac also refers to an island setting in Sermons 27 through 29, specifically at the

beginning ofSermon 27 and at the end ofSermon 29. There is no indication, however,

503 Sermon 14.13. SC 130: 278; PL 194: 1737B-C. 504 Sermon 14.14. Vigilate illi, ne vobis dormiat ille. SC 130: 278; PL 194: 1737C. 505 Sermon 18.2. (I)n hanc semotam et inclusam Oceano insulam, nudi ac naufragi, nudam nudi Christi crucem amplexi, pauci evasimus. SC 207: 8; PL 194: 1750A. See SC 207: 8n.5 for Jerome and Cassian's use ofnakedly following or clinging to the naked Christ. One ought not to assume the automatic identification ofRe as the location ofthe setting. 506 Sermon 18.5. (S)ibi, de Ieso loquendo, nomenfacere cupiat. SC 207: 10; PL 194: 17508. 507 Sermon 18.5. (P)raeferens veritatem, inferat vanitatem; propinans antidotum, bibat ipse venenum; de humilitate quo melius disputet, peius superbiat; paupertatem praedicet, affectans divitias; contemptum mundi, cupidus; misercordiam, avarus; subiectionem, ambitiosus; et si qua possint dici similia. SC 207: 12; PL 194: 1750C. 153 that these three sennons---or any ofIsaac's, for that matter-were ever preached on Re.

Note as well the maritime imagery in Sermons 14 and 15 to which I have already referred. Isaac's references to desolation, remoteness and even an island could apply to his entrance into monastic life or Stella itself.

Indeed, in the Exordium parvum we read of "the serried company that set out eagerly for a wilderness known as Citeaux, a locality in the diocese of Chalon where men rarely penetrated and none but wild things lived, so densely covered was it then with woodland and thorn bush."

When the men ofGod arrived there and realized that the less attractive and accessible the site was to laymen, the better it would suit themselves, they began, after felling and clearing the close-growing thickets and bushes, to build a monastery.508

References to the desert and geographic remoteness, as we have seen, were commonplaces in monastic literature in general. These were tenns not to be taken literally, however, as if the authors were accurately reporting on their locations.

Eucherius ofLyons (ca. 380-ca. 449) describes in his work, In Praise ofthe Desert (412­

20 or 427), the "desert" in which those who sought solitude in which to pursue the eremeticallife. "The soil of the desert," he writes, "is not sterile and unfruitful, as is commonly held; its dry, stony ground is not unprOductive."

A sower has hidden countless tender shoots and hundreds offruit trees there...There the fanner reaps the harvest of an abundant crop; such a great crop is produced from these stones that the desert's dry bones are covered with meat...Here is a delightful meadow

508 Exordium parvum 3. ET: Cistercian World,5-6. 154

for the interior soul. The untilled desert is attractive with a wonderful pleasantness. The material desert becomes a paradise of the spirit. 509

e. Language, Style and the Question of Vernacular Preaching

While we have seen what Isaac does in his sermons, I have yet to describe how

Isaac understood the sermon or rather understood the purpose ofthe sermon. Earlier I

noted that Cassian, understanding and interpreting Scripture was more than an intellectual

or linguistic exercise, but rather what he called "spiritual knowledge" (scientia spiritalis).510 According to Stewart, this knowledge "is not acquired learning but the

experience of monastic life brought to the monk's principal contemplative medium, the text of the Bible."511

Isaac wished as well to convey to his monks learning not for its own sake but rather that which led to the goal ofthe monastic life. In this section, I describe Isaac's understanding ofthe purpose ofthe sermon, in particular the scriptural and liturgical dimensions of the sermon, the goal to which Isaac desires to lead his monks in the sermon, and Isaac's view of monastic life and praxis as described in his sermons. This

509 In Praise ofthe Desert 39. CSEL 31: 191; ET: Lives ofthe Jura Fathers, 212. Eucherius continues: "0 admirable desert, how right it is for the holy monks to live or desire to live near you and within you, for you are rich and fertile in all the good things ofhim in whom all things are held. The kind of inhabitant you look for is one who will cultivate his own ground, not yours. You became fruitful in the virtues of those who dwell in you and became sterile in their vices." Ibid.,41. CSEL 31: 192; ET: Lives of the Jura Fathers, 213. See also Cassian, Institutes 8.17. I should also add the area in northern Russia, principally around Belozersk and Vologda, known as the "northern Thebaid," a description taken from the area in Upper Egypt. See The Northern Thebaid: Monsastic Saints ofthe Russian North, ed. Seraphim Rose and Herman Podmoshensky (Platina, Ca.: St. Herman of Alaska Press, 1995). William Harmless, however, refers to "Eucherius's romanticism for the desert." Was it "romanticism" or rather Eucherius's understanding of the desert that was on the one hand symbolic and on the other hand--Qr, perhaps, simultaneously-the place of spiritual combat? See William Harmless, Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature ofEarly Monasticism (Oxford and New York: Oxford, 2004), 412. 510 Conference 14.8-17. 51t Stewart, Cassian, 86. 155

will offer a more complete picture ofIsaac since I will have shown the content ofIsaac's

sermons as well as their rationale.

"Saint Bernard's example ofthe abbot-preacher produced a number ofpreaching

abbots in the course of the twelfth century," Old suggests. "This was a significant facet

ofhis reform. As abbots they were the pastors of congregations ofmonks. They well

understood that a pastor's first responsibility-indeed, one ofthe services of Christian

love he is charged to perform-is to preach the Word of God to his flock."SI2 Leclercq

writes that Bernard "was a man of the Bible."sI3

As scrupulous observers ofthe Regula Benedicti, Bernard as well as Isaac would

have spent several hours a day reading Scripture (RB 48) and additional hours in prayer

(RB 8-18). Terrence Kardong explains how approximately four hours a day were spent

in prayer.SI4 Kardong also points out that there is not much emphasis in the RB on

"learning for learning's sake":

St. Benedict does not put much emphasis on learning for learning's sake in his Rule. What he terms lectio divina is somewhat akin to our notion ofBible study, but strictly tied to personal spiritual enrichment. Monks are expected to learn the Psalms and other Bible passages by heart so they can recite them in the Divine Office, and also savor them in private prayer. Nothing is said about the intellectual value ofprobing the sacred text so as to understand what it actually means; the systematic study oftheology is not even enVIsage. d .SIS

Isaac was nothing ifnot a faithful disciple of Benedict. "Carnal understanding or

life is darkness," he declares in Sermon 16. "But on the other hand spiritual wisdom and

512 Old, Reading and Preaching, 284. 513 Jean Leclercq, Bernard ofClairvaux and the Cistercian Spirit, trans. Claire Lavoie (CS 16; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 1976),21. 514 Terrence G. Kardong, The Benedictines (Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1988), 141. 515 Ibid., 144-5. 156

life are daylight.,,516 Isaac's desire is for his monks to be among those who hear and

accept Christ as tenderly as a mother cares for her children.517 How clearly Isaac held to

what I have earlier reported as the monastic approach to Scripture as evinced by Cassian

and the Desert Fathers is seen in Isaac's statement in Sermon 22, that we must choose

between "silence or changing words.,,518 Isaac's preference was undoubtedly for the

latter: "God is not for our understanding or comprehending.,,519

I have argued thus far that an allegorical reading of Isaac's sermons goes against

Raciti's argument that Isaac's references to exile and being on R6 are to be understood as

his forced exile as a result ofhis support of Becket. Dietz, as we have seen, calls

attention to Raciti's tendency to read Isaac's sermons literally.520 He writes that "it goes

against the nature ofIsaac's sermons to seek in them precise historical information about

the R6 episode.,,521 In this section, I shall discuss three topics that pertain to Isaac's

sermons and monastic sermons in general: the genre ofsermons, the language and style

of sermons and whether monastic sermons (and Isaac's especially) were primarily literary

or oral products.

To begin with, what is a monastic sermon and how should we understand the

genre ofmonastic sermons?522 "The sermon is a living genre," Kienzle asserts. "(1)t still

516 Sermon 16.9. Carnalis sensus sive vita tenebrae; spiritalis autem sensus et vita dies. SC 130: 300; PL 194: 1742D. 517 Sermon 26.19. Primi ergo non concipiunt, secundi abortivumfaciunt, tertiifetum vivum opprimunt, quarti cum pietate ac diligentia maternal nutriunt. SC 207: 140; PL 194: I777D. 518 Sermon 22.10. Tacere, aut mutuatis uti verbis, necesse est. SC 207: 70; PL 194: 1762D. 519 Sermon 22.11. Totum equidem hoc dixerim, ut non solum credatis aliis, sed ut intelligatis ipsi haud posse intelligi quid sit Deus aut comprehendi. SC 207: 70; PL 194: 1762D. 520 Dietz, "Exile," 153-8, especially 154-5. 521 Ibid., 158. 522 I understand genre to mean "(a) particular style or category ofworks of art; esp. a type of literary work characterized by a particular form, style, or purpose." Oxford English Dictionary 6: 446. Also, "A literary genre is a recognizable and established category ofwritten work employing such common conventions as will prevent readers or audiences from mistaking it for another kind." Chris Baldick, The Concise Oxford Dictionary ofLiterary Terms (Oxford and New York: Oxford, 2008), 90. 157

exists, is recognizable as such, and resembles its medieval counterpart from an essential,

functional and at times formal perspective. Unlike some types ofmedieval texts that are

no longer written, or written only in imitation oftheir medieval forms, sermons remain:

still written, preached, heard by audiences, preserved, read, collected as literary texts and

accompanied by preaching aids, including collections of stories not unlike the medieval

exemplum. ,,523

Kienzle offers a three-fold definition: "1) The sermon is essentially an oral

discourse, spoken in the voice of a preacher who addresses an audience, 2) to instruct and

exhort them, 3) on a topic concerned with faith and morals and based on a sacred text.,,524

Kienzle's definition is, I think, a good one but arriving at a fixed definition of a sermon is

elusive. There is, on the one hand, the matter of terminology. While we may distinguish

between homilia and sermo, this amounted to a distinction without a difference in Isaac's

time. Jean Longere explains how for medieval writers, the terms had become

synonymous. 525 Kienzle concurs, adding that "(m)onastic authors generally referred to

their sermons with the word sermo, reflecting the predominance ofthat term over others

(tractatus, homilia, etc.) from the fourth century onwards. Benedictine and Cistercian

texts give witness to the general usage ofsermo and its derivatives for oral discourse and

its written product.,,526

On the other hand, there is the matter ofthe very nature of sermons themselves.

Muessig writes that monastic preaching was "a variegated experience": "Just as there

523 Kienzle, The Sermon, 147. 524 Kienzle, ibid., 151. 525 Jean Longere, La predication medievale (Serie moyen age-temps modemes 9; Paris: Etudes augustiniennes, 1983),27. 526 Kienzle, De l'homelie, 88. Kienzle goes on to report: "Cistercian authors use sermo for talks or sermons preached in chapter and for written sermons." Ibid. Kienzle also writes: "Benedictine and Cistercian writers used the same terminology (primarily the word sermo) for talks or sermons preached in chapter and for sermons intended to be read." Kienzle, The Sermon, 271. 158 exists a difficulty in summarizing what constitutes preaching, there is also a similar problem in defining sermons. This is greatly owing to the situation of studying a written genre which is supposed to represent an oral event.,,527 Contributing to the difficulty of arriving at a concrete definition of sermon is the fact that medieval writers wrote in a variety of genres and may have been scarcely aware of the distinctions and divisions of later scholars. "The sermon is a fluid genre," Kienzle continues, "related to the letter, the treatise and the commentary (and also to the speech, the shorter vitae and the principia of university masters) and often transformed to and from those genres. Many authors of homilies or sermons also wrote exegetical commentaries, treatises, and letters.,,528

Concerning the language and style of sermons, Leclercq's famous remark that sermons are a form of"written rhetoric" comes to mind. In distinguishing between the literary works ofthe monks and the schoolmen, Leclercq argues that the loquaciousness of the latter made the written record little more than an account ofwhat had been said.

"In the monastery, on the contrary, (the monks) write because they do not talk, they write to avoid speaking."

Their works accordingly take on a more highly fashioned and literary quality. They take time to express themselves in verse. If discourses or sermons are composed, they are often works of "written rhetoric." These sermons, which were not delivered and never would be, were intended for public or private reading, aloud in both cases.529

While Leclercq's remark concerns, inter alia, the matter of whether medieval sermons were actually preached or rather are literary works that follow certain conventions, here and now I want to discuss very practical matters regarding language

527 Muessig, "What is Medieval Monastic Preaching?," 4. 528 Kienzle, "Introduction," 168-9. 529 Leclercq, Love ofLearning, 154. 159 and style as well as the setting of sennons. Kienzle, whom I quoted earlier concerning how "(t)he twelfth-century monastic sennon reveals the theology and spirituality of its world,,,S30 reports that sennons also reveal the more mundane and quotidian, "providing also glances at daily life in the cloister.,,531

The locus ofmost monastic preaching was the chapter house. "An important event of the abbey's daily routine was the 'chapter' (capitulum)," Lekai relates, "held ordinarily after Prime in the chapter hall located next to the sacristy on the cloister's eastern wing. Present were all professed members ofthe community; novices and lay­ brothers held separate chapters. The meeting was intended to be both a forum for spiritual direction and occasion for administrative decisions."s32 Kienzle remarks: "The readings for the nocturns of Matins included sennons (usually patristic), and sennons and commentaries on the Rule were delivered by the abbot or another designated monk."

In some cases an abbess or another nun preached. The Cistercian Usages describe how the Rule was to be read in chapter and followed by a commentary. The lay brothers carne in from the granges on those days, and the preacher felt an obligation to simplify his style and probably to use the vernacular in order for them to understand.533

The lay brothers or conversi to whom Kienzle refers were, as Southern describes them, "second-class monks-second class in the sense that they were illiterate and therefore unable to take a full part in the life of the community."

530 Kienzle, The Sermon, 979. 531 Ibid. 532 Lekai, Cistercians, 365. Leclercq explains further: "At Cluny, at Farfa, and at still other abbeys, the 'sermon' took place twice a day and in two different locations: the first time in the morning, in the cloister before the beginning of the manual work of the day-then, the sermon would at times have as its topic the book which was being read in the refectory; the second, in the evening when the work was over, at the very place where the work was being done, for example under a tree or some other spot where all could sit around the superior. This talk or collatio often had as its theme a text from Scripture, or from the Rule, or some patristic writing." Leclercq, Love ofLearning, 167. 533 Kienzle, "Typology," 90. 160

Moreover they were required to remain illiterate and forbidden ever to aspire to a full monastic status. Yet they were monks in the sense that they followed a simplified monastic regime: they rose at the sound of a bell to listen to the later part of the monastic night-office; their food and clothing were similar to those ofthe monks; they were required to keep silent like monks and to pray at the times ofthe divine office, even though they could not be in church; they had their own chapter-houses where they met on 534 Sundays, and they were required to communicate seven times a year.

It was to these that Isaac preached his sermons. But how did Isaac deliver them

or, more to the point, in which language? Did Isaac preach in Latin or vernacular? The

assumption often made is the former, at least when sermons were preached in the

monastery; outside the monastery preaching in the vernacular was not uncommon.535

Kienzle argues, however, that "(i)n Cistercian houses the vernacular seems to have been

used on major feasts when the lay brothers were present.,,536

The question of vernacular preaching is not new. Indeed, it was already an issue

for Jean Mabillon (1632-1707), who in Traite des etudes monastiques puzzles over

whether Bernard preached in French or Latin.537 Tissier similarly puzzles over the

language in which Helinand of Froidmont delivered his first sermon for Palm Sunday

(Sermon 8).538

534 Southern, Western Society, 258. Concerning lay brothers as well as the order's acceptance of only undeveloped or unmanorialized land, Southern continues: "Their existence made it possible for the Cistercians to organize large areas ofundeveloped land, to reject the conveniences ofrents and services, and to turn their backs on the world without giving up the ideal of a highly organized religious life. Their numbers varied from house to house, but they normally exceeded the no ofmonks, sometimes by as many as three to four to one." Ibid. 535 Longere, La predication medievale, 161-4. 536 Kienzle, "Twelfth-Century Monastic Sermon," 287. 537 Mabillon, Jean. Traite des etudes monastiques: divise en trois parties, avec une liste des principales difficultez qui se rencontrent en chaque siecle dans la lecture des originaux & un catalogue de livres choisis pour composer une bibliotheque ecclesiastique (Brussels: Eugene Henry Fricx, 1692),422. 538 PL 212: 543n.24. 161

Mette Birkedal Bruun reports: "That the homiletic style also may have been shaped according to the comprehensive nature ofthe audience is indicated by Isaac of

Stella's consideration for the rhetorical accessibility ofthe sermon.,,539 Raciti argued, as we have seen, that Isaac preached his sermon on R6 and in the vernacular, and that the sermon served as Isaac's defense to elaborate on the change ofhis homiletic style following his political misfortunes.54o I agree with Raciti, for reasons that I shall now discuss. But I do not agree with the reason Raciti argues as he does.

A crucial part ofRaciti's argument is that Isaac's sermons-Sermon 48 in particular--demonstrate that Isaac was forced to change the style in which he preached as a result ofthe consequences ofthe Becket controversy.541 When Becket's political fortunes changed, so did Isaac's. Isaac was forced, according to Raciti, to reign in his speculative preaching in favor of a simpler style. This is the lens through which Raciti reads and interprets Sermon 48.

Internal evidence suggests that while Isaac was keen on preaching in a simpler style on certain occasions, the reason had nothing to do with either political or ecclesiastical duress. Isaac is clear that he is changing his usual homiletic style in

Sermon 48. He tells his monks that he regrets they have become so used to his subtleties as well as repetitions of earlier sermons, that if "we say something we have already said, or that may be found in writing somewhere, it makes you either sick or angry.,,542

539 Mette Birkedal Bruun, "Mapping the Monastery: Helinand of Froidmont's Second Sermon for Palm Sunday," in Predication et liturgie au Moyen Age, ed. Nicole Beriou and Franco Morenzoni (Bibliotheque d'histoire culturelle du moyen age 5; Tumhout: Brepols, 2008),187. 540 Raciti, "Isaac de I'Etoile," 285. 541 See Chapter I, supra. 542 Sermon 48.3. Si dicimus quod ante nos dictum sit, vel scriptum inveniri posit, aut nausiam vobis aut bi/em movet. SC 339: 154; PL 194: 1853C. 162

Isaac goes on to state that on feast days such as that ofthe Nativity ofJohn the

Baptist (the occasion for Sermon 48), "when a crowd oflay brothers gathers from all

directions," the sermons are "simple and for the simple, and communicated in pedestrian

words for the sake ofthose who have not yet assumed wings but follow Jesus on foot.,,543

Here we note the change in usual practice, i.e., the presence oflay brothers to hear Isaac's

sermons.544

And yet a close reading ofthe text, in particular Isaac's reference to an informal

talk or collatio, helps to reveal the nature ofhis sermon to the lay brothers. Kienzle

makes the important point that "(t)he sermon is distinguished from the collatio (informal

conversation) when Isaac ofSteUa, speaking ofthe need to address the lay-brothers with

simple words, adds: Non deeritforsanfamiliarior collatio, ubi vobiscum poterimus altius

aliquid et subtilius perscrutari. At times the collatio was probably translated by a

listener.,,545

The audience to which Isaac spoke, in other words, determined the manner in

which he spoke and, more to the point, whether he would deliver a sermon or a more

informal talk (collatio). The latter would understandably be distinguished by simpler

speech and vocabulary, ifnot the use ofthe vernacular itself.

It is hardly just in Sermon 48, however, that Isaac refers to his conscious change

in style to reflect his audience. In Sermon 45, Isaac also speaks ofthe necessity of simple

543 Sermon 48.16. Praeterea cum cimplicibus sermocinatio nostra, et maxime in his diebus solemnibus, cum laicorum turba undique cogitur. Non deerit forsan familiarior collatio, ubi vobiscum poterimus altius aliquid et subtilius perscrutari. Sermones vero isti solemnes simplicibus simplices sunt, et pedestri sermone effuse propter eos qui nondum adsumpserunt pennas, sedpedites sequuntur ambulantem Iesum. SC 339: 166; PL 194: 1855D. 544 I am taking laicorum to refer not simply to laymen (or laywomen, for that matter) in general, but rather as a term to designate lay brothers. See, for example, Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, ed. Jan Frederik Niermeyer et al. (2d ed.; Leiden: Brill, 2002. 2 vols), 1: 758. 545 Kienzle, "Twelfth-Century Monastic Sermon," 279-80. 163 speech. "Brothers," he says, "let us put all this into easily understood tenns, for the sakes of our illiterate brothers.,,546 Likewise in Sermon 37, he refers to preaching on behalf of the illiterate (vulgari).547 And in Sermon 50, Isaac he notes that he must speak slowly as well as repeat himselfout ofnecessity for the sake ofthe lay brothers.548 Note that the editors ofthe third volume of Isaac's sennons in the Sources chretiennes series refer to the simple style ofSermon 50 as well as traces ofthe vernacular. They refer as well to

Stella's numerous granges as well as lay brothers, both ofwhich indicate that Isaac likely preached this sennon in the vernacular. 549

These examples from Isaac's sennons indicate not a change in Isaac's style due to persecution or any other consequences ofhis support ofBecket, but rather his preaching to lay brothers in a much simpler style with which to accommodate them, if not vernacular preaching itself. There is no evidence of any "change" at all, then, as if Isaac somehow ceased preaching as he typically did in the chapter house to his monks. What we read in his sennons, rather, is evidence of a simpler style employed on occasion for the benefit of lay brothers who would have either known no Latin or who otherwise required a more basic homiletic style.

"The written text is an inexact reflection of a preaching event," Kienzle writes.

"For medieval sennon studies, one of the primary problems for research, if not the primary problem is detennining whether there is a relationship between the text and an

546 Sermon 45.8. Dicamus simpliciter, fratres, maxime propter simplices et illiterates fratres qui supra sermonem trivii loquentes non intelligunt. SC 339: 102; PL 194: I842D. 547 Sermon 37.17. (V)ulgari sermone breviter narro. SC 207: 294; PL 194: 18I5B. 548 Sermon 50.2. Olim vero, nisi vobis exciderit, de re ista verbum vobisfecimus; sed quoniam in hoc apostolorum natali, undique fratrum numerus solito copiosior affluxit, repetere nobis haud erit pigrum quod vobis credimus necessarium. SC 339: 180; PL 194: I858D. 549 SC 339: I80-In.I. 164

actual oral discourse and what that relationship is.,,550 I shall treat the knotty issue of

whether monastic sermons were primarily literary or oral products in the following

chapter, in particular whether Isaac preached his sermons.

Here and now there is also the matter ofto whom the sermon was intended, i.e., to

whom it would have been preached in the case of a sermon actually preached.

"Audiences for medieval sermons," Kienzle observes, "sometimes known and sometimes

not, may be ascertained from extratextual indicators such as manuscript rubrics, or from

intratextual, deixtic references, that is references to the sermon's actual situation­

person, time, and place-which indicate the presence of a real or imaginary audience and

at times give clues to the audience's identity.,,551

"We must remember that the sermons of Isaac are a form of 'written rhetoric,' a

highly conscious literary genre whose relation to actual preaching is distant and in some

cases non-existant," McGinn advises. "Many of them undoubtedly reflect elements of conferences given in monastic chapter; some even are related to festal sermons given to both brothers and the converse. Even those that were never preached in any way were created for monks as texts for reading, meditation and discussion. We should beware of taking the charming literary fictions that sprinkle some sermons (e.g., Sermons 9, 11,24 and 25) as evidence ofthe real life situation.,,552

550 Kienzle, "Typology," 87. 55\ Ibid., 154. 552 Sermons, xvii. See also McGinn, Golden Chain, 25-6. 165

f. Exile

The theme of "exile" (exsilium, peregrinatio) in Isaac's sermons looms large in

Raciti's argument. According to Raciti, Isaac's references to "exile" refer to his forced

exile on R6 and are, therefore, to be taken literally. Isaac, in other words, is referring to

actual events and providing historical and, indeed, autobiographical information. Such a

reading, however, amounts to a misreading of Isaac's sermons for reasons I shall now

detail.

Ifwe accept Leclercq's definition ofa sermon as "written rhetoric,,,553 then we

can expect to find a good deal ofrhetorical devices in Isaac's sermons in particular.

Isaac's sermons feature, for example, instances of hyperbole. The human being affected

by sin, for example, has been "changed into a beast.,,554 In Sermon 18, Isaac refers to

"our poverty that is so peaceful and lovely brings with it plentiful need, especially of

books and commentaries.,,555 Likewise in Sermon 22, Isaac mentions that the monks

have requested that he keep talking due to their lack ofbooks: "Because, my brothers, of

our lack ofbooks, you demand that I provide for your reading by my words, it rests on

me to say something.,,556 In Sermon 27, Isaac calls the monastery a "hell of mercy" in

553 Leclercq, Love ofLearning, ]S4. See also McGinn, Golden Chain, 2S-9; Sermons, xvii. 554 Sermon 6.9. Talis enim qui est, ab homine deletes est, et in pecus mutatur, nisi quod hoc est natura, ipse fit vitio. SC 130: ]68; PL ]94: ]71OC. Cf. Sermon] 7.3: "Such people, however clever, skillful, sensible, favorable, and gentle are not truly part of mankind"; Hi nimirum, quamlibet astuti, callidi, sensati, gratiosi, placidive. nondum tamen hominess sunt. SC 130: 312; PL 194: 174SC. 555 Sermon 18.1. Inter quietae et amabilis paupertatis nostrae copiosas inopias, librorum et maxime commentariorum. SC 207: 8; PL 194: 1749D. N.b.: Isaac quotes the Lausiac History IS-6: "I gave away the Gospel for the sake ofthe Gospel." Evangelium dedi propter Evangelium. SC 207: 8; PL 194: 1749D. 556 Sermon 22.1. Quoniam../raters mei, librorum languentes inopia, de nobis lectione vocem vivam exigitis, dicere aliquid necessitas incumbit. SC 207: 62; PL 194: 1761 B. Isaac was insistent concerning poverty. We have seen his criticism of certain clergy in Sermon I8.S (supra). Other evidence demonstrates Isaac's insistence. Garda cites a charter from IlS2 that indicates that Isaac was content with a mule for transportation (Garda, "Du nouveau," ]2). This stands in sharp contrast to the Cistercian preference for horses. See David H. Williams, The Cistercians in the Early Middle Ages (Leominster, 166

which the abbot is the father ofsouls and the torturer of bodies: "Yes indeed, we have

been in the world, we are now in hell-however ofmercy, not wrath-and we shall be in

heaven.,,557

Turning to the theme of "exile" and related themes, in Sermon 29 Isaac calls

himself a foreigner (advenam) and visitor (peregrinum) in this world, a son ofhuman

parents in appearance only since he is now a child of God whose siblings are the brothers

ofhis community.558 In Sermon 19, one finds "exile" treated similarly. "And now,

dearest friends, we must end here today, fatigued by work and words," Isaac concludes.

"For it is by both kinds ofbread we eat in the sweat of our brow while we are away from that house, where is heard 'the voice of rejoicing and praise, the sound of feasting' [Ps

41:5]. May he lead us there, he for whose sake we live in exile on this island and in this desert far from nearly everything in the entire world.,,559

The exile to which Isaac refers at the end ofSermon 19 clearly refers to the exile from Eden. 56o Isaac often uses either the exile from Eden or exile in general as a way of describing the human condition in relation to God and our temporal existence.

Concerning the former, Isaac speaks ofAdam and Eve in the following way in Sermon

54:

Herefordshire: Gracewing, 1998),353. Isaac's seal was likewise humble and bore no inscription, uncommon for Isaac's time. For details on Isaac's seal, see Franr;ois Eygun, Sigillographie du Poitou jusqu 'en /515: Etudes d'histoire provinciale sur les institutions, les arts et la civilisation d'apres les sceaux (Poitiers: Societe des Antiquaires de l'Ouest, ), 407. 557 Sermon 27. 17-8. Immo, in mundo fuimus, in inferno sumus-sed misericordiae, non irae-in caelo erimus. SC 207: 150; PL 194: 1780C. 558 Sermon 29.8. Ego fateor me iam hie advenam et peregrinum, toto videlicet hoc mundo, tamquam qui de eo oriundus minime sim nee hominis sed Dei jilium in hominis specie et similitudine latitantem; haud amodo jilium patris mei ac matris meae, velfratrem fratrum meorum, licet dicant, affirment ac peierent me suum esse. SC 207: 172; PL 194: 1785B-C. 559 Sermon 19.24. Sed hie, dilectissimi, pausandum est nobis hodie, cum et labore et sermone fatigati simus. Utrumque enim panem in sudore vultus nostril vescimur, dum peregrinamur a domo illa, ubi est in voce exsultationis et confessionis sonus epulantis, ad quam nos perducat, propter quem etiam in hac insula et eremo ab universo ferme terrarum orbe exsulamus. SC 207: 40. PL 194: 17568. 560 See SC 207: 40a which cites Gen 3:19. 167

But when they withdrew from God because of the fault of disobedience, by means of the justice ofpunishment their flesh withdrew from their minds, and their flesh thrown out of Paradise, and thus the entire human being goes about in exile. For the soul was not created or placed in such a body, and the body was not created or placed in such a world. The soul, therefore, is a wanderer in such a body, and the body in such a world.56!

Isaac uses the image of "wandering" or being estranged from God elsewhere. In

Sermon 37, for example, Isaac quotes 2 Cor 5:6 when he speaks ofhimself and his

audience as "we who are 'away from the Lord,' inasmuch as we are shut out from the

feast.,,562 Likewise in Sermon 55, where he states: "But here, while 'we are away from

the Lord' on earth, our 'tears' are our 'bread by day and by night, as [we] hear it said

every day: "Where is [your] God? [Ps 41:4]"",563

But all is neither lost nor without hope. The exile or estrangement from God, as

sorrowful as it is, is nevertheless an opportunity to engage in the ascetical effort of

returning to God. "As long as we are the body 'which is corruptible and weighs down the

soul' [Wis 9:15] we wander weighed down, far from the delightful refreshment ofthe

Lord," Isaac declares in Sermon 31. "But let us spend the time and exercise the body by

observing and obeying the commands ofGod," he continues, "pondering his law in our

heart by day and by night.,,564

561 Sermon 54.14. Sed cum per culpam inoboedientiae recessit a Deo, per iustitiam vindictae recessit a mente cara, et proiecta est ipsa de paradise, et sic agit totus homo in exsilio. Neque enim in tali corpore create vel posita est anima, nec in tali mundo corpus. Anima igitur peregrinatur in tali corpore, et corpus in tali mundo. SC 339: 258-60. PL 194: 1874D. 562 Sermon 37.18. Nos autem qui adhuc peregrinamur a Domino, ' utpote ad convivantium divitumfores. SC 207: 296. PL 194: 1815C. 563 Sermon 55.6. Hic autem, dum peregrinamur in terris a Domino, sunt nobis lacrimae nostrae panes die ac nocte, dum dicitur nobis quotidie: Ubi est Deus vester? SC 339: 266-8. 564 Sermon 31.3. (U)t quamdiu temporales hic sumus et in corpore quod corrumpitur et aggravate animam aggravate peregrinamur a mensa ac delectabili refectione Domini...sed expendamus tempus et exerceamus corpus in observantia et oboedientia mandatorum Dei, corde autem in lege eius meditantes die ac nocte. SC 207: 192. PL 194: 1790D. 168

The return to God is part and parcel of the monastic life, as well as synonymous with the return from exile. Indeed, Isaac associates exsilium and peregrinatio with conversatio and disciplina. In Sermon 12, for example, Isaac relates:

Therefore let this be the model ofyour lives, brothers, for this is the true rule (disciplina) ofholy living (sanctae conversationis), in thought and desire to live with Christ in that eternal country; but to refuse no charity for Christ's sake during this hard joumey.565

Isaac speaks similarly in Sermon 50, where he understands Adam's work following his exile from Eden as being the paradigm for monastic labor. "Better, therefore, to be punished in exile," Isaac comments, "than to be at fault in paradise.,,566

Only once does Isaac appear to speak of"exile" in literal terms. At the beginning ofFragment 2, Isaac speaks ofreturning to his monastery following a lengthy absence.

While we are tempted to understand exsilium and peregrinatio as referring to Isaac's exile on Re, a close reading ofthe text disallows such a precise identification. "Indeed I know, brothers," he begins, "I know and have no doubt that your love bore my exile no less heavily than it happily receives my return."

For I have plain proof ofyour love that you were disturbed by my absence, you who are now delighted by my presence. And my greatest and only consolation while I was away 567 was to know that I had as many associates in exile as I had friends remaining at home.

565 Sermon 12.6. Haec sit igitur vobis vitae forma, fratres, haec sanctae conversationis vera est disciplina, cogitatione et aviditate in illa aeterna patria conversari cum Christo; in hac aerumnosa peregrinatione nullum caritatis officium recusare pro Christo. SC 130: 254; PL 194: 1731A. 566 Sermon 50.3. Melior igitur poena in exsilio quam culpa in paradise. SC 339: 182; PL 194: 1858D. Isaac continues: "Besides it seems ajust way to make amends, that the one who was unworthy to rule as lord under the Lord should in exile serve under a fellow servant." Sermon 50.10. Praeterea recompensatio iusta videtur, ut qui in paradise dedignatus est regnare dominus sub Domino, in exsilio iam serviat servus sub conserve. SC 339: 186; PL 194: 1859D. 567 Fragment 2.1-2. Novi quidem,fratres, novi nee dubito nostrum non minus graviter exsilium vestram tulisse caritatem quam gratanter suscepisse reditum .. .Evidens enim habeo vestrae dileetionis 169

The precise identification of this place of exile to which Isaac refers eludes us.

Given Isaac's use ofthe metaphor of"exile" as well as its use in earlier monastic literature, identification is unnecessary. While a stay on Re may have been in the background--or, perhaps, some other stay away from Stella-Isaac's purpose was neither to provide a travelogue nor defense.568 "The exile theme in particular has so many far-reaching and complex implications in Isaac's world of imagery," argues Dietz,

"that it would be a gross simplification to conclude he is speaking of forced removal, much less ofreal fetters.,,569 Isaac's point, rather, is to convey to his monks the purpose ofthe monastic life they have chosen and the goal to which they aspire.

In the end it is contrary to the nature and purpose ofIsaac's sermons to locate in them precise historical or geographical information concerning the events on the island of

Re. Isaac nowhere provides details ofthe time he spent on the island and any attempt to do so is at best speculation and at worst a misreading of the text. Given the multivalent approach to Scripture as well as monastic literature from its origins to Isaac's time, attempting to divide neatly between what is metaphorical or allegorical and what is not is practically impossible. Such an attempt is ultimately unwise and unnecessary, for it fails to see in Isaac's themes of exile his teaching on the monastic life.

argumentum fuisse vos nostra perturbatos absentia, quos tanto opera nunc laetificat praesentia. Et haec quidem summa et sola erat mihi in peregrinatione consolation; quod sciebam totidem habere me exsilii socios quot domi reliqueram amicos. SC 339: 294. 568 Isaac's time on R6, however brief, nevertheless left an impression on him. Vincent Seguret notes the extent to which Re became a key metaphor in Isaac's sermons his essay, "La signification spirituelle de la vie insulaire dans les Sermons d'Isaac de l'Etoile," I: CC 56 (1994): 343-58; II: CC 57 (1995): 75-92. It is ultimately uncertain, however, when studying Isaac's sermons to determine which ones were preached on R6 and which ones were preached at Stella or elsewhere. Equally uncertain is the very real possibility that material from earlier sermons (whether preached at R6 or Stella) was subsequently revised or otherwise assimilated into edited sermons. 569 Dietz, "Exile," 158. 170

Ifwe read Isaac's sermons in a way that understood these themes literally, then

we would nearly miss Isaac's teaching completely. Isaac's sermons would thus be

reduced to the writings of an unfortunate and erstwhile abbot who died abandoned and in

disgrace. This amounts to little more than a facile oversimplification, however, that is

revealed in the light of what follows, where I discuss my findings and, in so doing, the

fundamental themes ofIsaac's teaching on the monastic life from his sermons.

C. Discussion of Findings

Understanding Isaac's place in the stream of monastic literature is essential to understanding what Isaac is doing in his sermons. This is especially true when we consider Isaac's use of geographical place and references to "exile." Circumstantial details are few, as are references to contemporary events. Isaac is not providing his monks with the news of the day. Indeed, Isaac's sermons are strikingly free of details on contemporary events. When they do occur (e.g., Sermon 48), they are notable as exceptions.

Isaac's approach, as I demonstrated at the outset of this chapter, is in keeping with that ofhis monastic forebears. Cassian, as Vogue in particular argued, was less interested in the quotidian than the theological. Matarasso remarks: "These men were not historians dedicated to the recording of uninterrupted facts. They wished above all to edify: themselves, succeeding generations of religious, and no doubt the world beyond the cloister, which would furnish them with new recruits. ,,570 This, along with the monastic approach to Scripture, demonstrates why in his sermons Isaac was not interested only in

570 Cistercian World, xv. 171 recording historical facts. Isaac's sermons explain how he is applying Scripture to the situation ofhis monks (and himself) and the way in which he is describing Scripture and the life of Christ as the means of their transformation.

From Isaac's sermons I have found that an allegorical reading goes against

Raciti's argument that Isaac's references to exile and being on Re are to be understood as his forced exile as a result ofhis support ofBecket. Dietz has called attention to Raciti's tendency to read Isaac's sermons literally.571 He writes that "it goes against the nature of

Isaac's sermons to seek in them precise historical information about the Re episode.,,572

Isaac himself admits to his love of allegory, as we have seen, in Sermon 11. 573

My argument, that Isaac stands in fundamental continuity with the Christian monastic and ascetical tradition, is based largely on a close reading of his sermons.

While Raciti does not deny this continuity, his argument obscures this nevertheless. My approach is neither to follow Raciti in offering a similarly detailed and painstaking study ofIsaac's sermons nor focus on anyone aspect of or topic in Isaac's theology. It is, rather, a more general one in which I place Isaac's work in the context of earlier monastic literature and then respond specifically to the arguments Raciti and others have raised concerning Isaac's sermons.

I have analyzed two sets of documents in formulating and demonstrating my argument: monastic charters and Isaac's sermons. From the former I have determined that the traditional date for the founding of Re in 1156 is sound and that Raciti's reasons for mistrusting it are unsound. Isaac's involvement in the foundation ofthe monastery of

Notre Dame des CMteliers on Re is fairly well documented. Two acts of donation and

571 Dietz, "Exile," 153-8, especially 154-5. 572 Ibid., 158. 573 SC 130: 248; PL 194: 1729C-D. 172

one letter from a donor to the abbot ofPontigny are extant.574 McGinn has briefly

summarized the dating and other minutiae concerning these documents. 575 In what

follows, I provide an outline ofthe three-stage process ofthe foundation of the

monastery.

To begin with, Isaac along with John of Trizay, the abbot ofthe nearby abbey at

Trizay, ask Eblo ofMauleon to make a donation, to which Eblo agrees. 576 This request

seems to have stalled out, however, since Eblo subsequently wrote a letter to the abbot of

Pontigny (motherhouse ofboth Stella and Trizay) asking that the Cistercian Order and he found an abbey on the site he (i.e., Eblo) had already given to Isaac and John. 577 Eblo reports that Isaac and John concur with his request and were begging for Pontigny's intervention and acceptance ofthe donation.578 This leads to the abbot ofPontigny's visit to the island and acceptance ofthe donation. The donation was renewed and formally accepted in the presence ofthe abbot ofPontigny, Isaac and John. The agreed upon terms indicate that the monastery was to conform to Cistercian regulations as well as agricultural practice.579

The reasons for the initial reluctance on the part of the abbot of Pontigny concerning Eblo's donation are unknown. Possible reasons include the fact that the

General Chapter had not approved the donation or request to establish a monastery on Re as well as the document's apparent lack ofreference to either animals or granges. Dietz

574 See Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 195-8. For a more recent edition of the documents, see Garrigues, Le premier cartulaire, 181-2. 575 McGinn, Golden Chain, 14-8. 576 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 195-6; Garrigues, Le premier cartulaire, 181. 577 Debray-Mulatier, ibid., 197; Garrigues, ibid., 181-2. 578 (I)psis hoc annuentibus; immo votes omnibus implorantibus. Debray-Mulatier, ibid., 197; Garrigues, ibid., 182. 579 Debray-Mulatier, ibid., 197-8; Garrigues, ibid., 182. 173 argues that "it is impossible to deduce from it alone the long-term intentions ofIsaac and

John. Further information on the beginnings ofthe new monastery is lacking.,,58o

Eblo's second letter to the abbot ofPontigny-the second stage of the foundation ofthe monastery on Re-is less ambiguous. The problem, however, concerns to whom this letter was addressed. The extant letter in Pontigny's first cartulary provides only the first initial (i.e., G) of the abbot to whom it was addressed. Debray-Mulatier provides the name Guicardus without brackets or any indication of the lack ofthe full name of the recipient. 581 Garrigues, however, provides brackets.582

If Guichard received the letter, then the foundation ofNotre Dame des Chateliers occurred during his abbacy, i.e., prior to 1165. Raciti, stating that the traditional date of the foundation was unreliable, argued that Garinus was the abbot of Pontigny, not

Guichard, and was, therefore, the recipient ofthe letter.583 The third document, however, explicitly names Guichard as abbot, Garinus's predecessor as abbot ofPontigny.584 The oldest vidimus copy of this third charter, which Debray-Mulatier dates as from the fifteenth century,585 clearly names Guichard (in line five: "Guicardus") as the recipient.

This is an important matter not only because it goes against Raciti's argument but, more important, because it was during Guichard's abbacy that Pontigny made most of its twelfth century foundations or incorporations. Thus the adoption of Notre Dame des

Chateliers on Re fits with the pattern of Guichard's work as abbot. This is especially notable since no foundations or incorporations are recorded during Garinus's abbacy.

580 Dietz, "Exile," 146. 581 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 197. 582 Garrigues, Le premier cartulaire, 181-2. Garrigues also refers to Leopold Janauschek's Originum Cisterciensium (Vindobonae: Alfred Hoelder, 1877) for dating the letter. 583 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 210. 584 Garinus was abbot ofPontigny from 1165 to 1174. 585 Debray-Mulatier, "Biographie," 197. 174

Raciti's argument against the traditional date of the foundation ofRe (i.e., ca. 1156) rests solely on the use of the first initial G in the previous document, despite the fact that the third document refers explicitly to Guichard.586 The oldest vidimus copy, as we have seen, leaves no room for doubt.

Turning to Isaac's sermons, in Sermon 48 what we find is not evidence of a change in Isaac's style due to persecution or pressure, i.e., Isaac ceasing to be less speculative due to external harassment or pressure, either from secular or ecclesiastical powers. What is Isaac's point, then? See, e.g., Sermon 5.10-2 where he criticizes learning for its own sake or for the sake of one's fame or notoriety; as well as Sermons

40.20 and 43.12-3 where he speaks against those who seek to profit from religion and become priests for personal gain, respectively.

Isaac is not, therefore, shy in offering criticism where he deems necessary. In

Sermon 10.17-8 he criticizes the conduct of abbots and includes himself in the process; he likewise criticizes his own order in a matter concerning property disputes when it comes to following the Beatitudes, in particular Christ's teaching concerning poverty, in

Sermon 2.7-8.

Isaac is similarly critical in Sermon 48, albeit in a subtle and nuanced way. The key to understanding what or whom Isaac is criticizing lay in Sermon 48.5-8, where he refers to two important events in his day: nascent scholasticism and military orders. 587

The root ofIsaac's criticism, again, is the inability or failure to follow the example of

Christ, namely, his meekness, patience, etc.

586 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 210n.273. 587 SC 339: 156-60; PL 194: 1853D-1854C. 175

The problem Isaac seeks to address in Sermon 48 and elsewhere ultimately is the inconsistency between the monks' teaching and their lives, i.e., word and deed. What the monks, abbots, knights, schoolmen-indeed, Isaac himself-taught was not always consistent with their lives. Recall, for example, Isaac's comment in Sermon 18.5 concerning those who "wish to make a name for themselves when preaching of Jesus.,,588

"The little available evidence," Dietz offers, "seems to indicate that, on this point of consistency, Isaac was as demanding with himself as he was with others.,,589 Isaac's insistence on poverty and asceticism, in other words, was not mere rhetoric.

When I first read McGinn's study and his basic acceptance ofRaciti's argument, I concurred because I had not read much of Isaac's sermons. Once I had, however,

Raciti's argument failed to carry as much weight for me as it did initially. His literal reading ofIsaac's sermons seemed to run contrary to monastic literature in general.

When Isaac referred to his exile, for example, I did not take him to be any more literally than an early Christian monk referring to the desert.

Raciti, however, did understand Isaac's terms historically. He was convinced he had discovered not only historical clues to the elusive Isaac but also the hermeneutical key (namely, Sermon 48) that explained Isaac's mysteriousness since Isaac, Raciti argued, was forced into exile because he was on the losing side of Becket's controversy with Henry. Through the study of the genre ofmonastic sermons, I realized what Isaac was doing in his sermons as well as his continuity with his immediate and previous tradition. Specifically, I discovered that the terminology Isaac uses in his sermons is to

588 Sermon 18.5. (S)ibi, de Ieso [oquendo, nomenfacere cupiat. SC 207: 10; PL 194: 1750B. 589 Dietz, "Exile," 162. 176 be understood allegorically as well as tropo10gically-part and parcel of medieval preaching-and not historically.

Leclercq's understanding of the monastic sermon as "written rhetoric" has proven helpful. He did not believe that monastic sermons were always or necessarily preached but were rather written along conventiona11ines, in keeping with the sermon genre.

Leclercq believed that some of Bernard's references to interruptions and losing track of time, were literary conventions and not really what Bernard preached.59o

In The Implications ofLiteracy, Stock reflects on the societal background in

Isaac's day as it relates to the theme of exile. "During the period under consideration,"

Stock writes, "it appeared normal to most thinkers that life-styles should remain unfixed for a certain length of time. Peregrinus had not acquired the specialized sense of

'pilgrim,' still less of'crusader'; it simply meant 'exile' or 'wanderer. ",591 Stock nevertheless raises the question of whether Isaac's use of "exile" is allegorical or something that reflects the society in which Isaac lived. Is Isaac's sense of "exile," in other words, only figurative? He is not, as I argue, referring to a forced exile to R6 as a consequence of his support of Becket, as Raciti argued. But what does he mean by

"exile"? Becket clearly climbed the social ladder but it is unclear ifIsaac did as well.

Stock continues:

590 See Christopher Holdsworth's essay, "Were the Sermons ofSt. Bernard on the Song of Songs ever Preached?," in Medieval Monastic Preaching, ed. Carolyn Muessig (Studies in Intellectual History 90; Leiden: Brill, 1998), 295-3 I8. See also M. B. Pranger's essay, "Killing Time: An Essay on the Monastic Notion of Speed," in ibid., 319-33. Both essays are particularly good in explaining how such things were actually included in Bernard's sermons. 591 Stock, Implications ofLiteracy, 476-7. 177

However, from the tenth century, the notion gradually began to be looked upon in another light. While retaining its older meaning, "wandering" also started to function as a symbol ofpsychological indecision. Physical movement, so to speak, gave individuals a period ofreflection, not only between the poles ofbirth and death, but, as became increasingly clear, between the apparently immobile models for behaviour inherited from their ancestors and the new forms towards which they were not always successfully groping. It was a time of testing, of adventure. And, for both sexes, the period ofinstability was youth.592

Stock's insights, while interesting and certainly grist for future scholarship in

Isaac and his sermons, would detain me unavoidably. He demonstrates nevertheless the complex linguistic and societal background in which Isaac lived and composed his sermons.

More important for my argument is the fact that Isaac was a monk preaching to monks. The monastic life can never be understood solely through the intellect. It must be experienced. This is so because the goal ofthe monastic life is not the acquisition of academic learning or even virtue, but rather the transformation ofthe individual.

Kardong observes that "it is not enough to perform acts ofascesis--one must experience personal transformation. One must become the value striven for.,,593

This is precisely the raison d'etre for Isaac's preaching. Man is transformed:

"made new and formed again to the image and likeness ofGod.,,594 Conversion itself is

"changing one's natural powers to God as slaves to doing right until all is sanctified.,,595

592 Ibid., 477. 593 Kardong, "John Cassian's Evaluation of Monastic Practices," 103. 594 Sermon 16.15. Propter haec enimfactus est homo ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei. SC 130: 304-6; PL 194: 1744A. 595 Sermon 17.16. (S)ic conversus ad Deum exhibet eadem servire iustitiae ad sanctificationem. SC 130: 322; PL 194: 1748A. 178

In Sermon 5, Isaac speaks ofthe life of a monk as one dedicated to working and caring 596 for Christ himself as ifhe were a garden.

Christ himself, as Isaac asserts in Sermon 15, is the pattern for the monks to

follow, indeed, the pattern of the monastic life. The ascetic struggle is patterned after

Christ's Passion: "Our self-denial calls on the death, passion and endurance of Christ our

Lord for our model and help.,,597 Christ is the "supreme pattern" (formam praetendit) for

the monks and they are partners of Christ's sufferings and glory as well. Christ is the gift

as well, apart from whom we can do nothing.598

The goal ofthe monastic life is "(j)oy, love, delight and sweetness, sight, light,

brightness-these are what God demands ofus, the purpose for which he made US.,,599

"All our practice, our work and leisure, our speech and silence," he continues, "must be brought to this.,,600 Isaac is unequivocal concerning the goal of monastic life: "And so, brothers, if all ofour training is to be true, let us see to it that their purpose is always to bring us the delight of contemplation and true love of our neighbor, to gracious leisure with God and ordered relations with our neighbors.,,601

The monastic life, while valuable, is limited nonetheless. "Once the active life has achieved its purpose," Isaac reports, "what is left for the soul except the contemplative life, the consummation ofwhich is the vision of and delight in God?

596 Sermon 5.9. Duae sunt partes oeconomiae, operari et custodire. Unde de primo homine dictum est: Ut operaretur, et custodiret illum. SC 130: 148; PL 194: l705C. 597 Sermon 15.14. (MJortificatio nostra Christi Domini mortem, passionem passio, patientiam quoque patientia in exemplum sibi et auxilium vocat. SC 130: 292; PL 194: 1740C-D. 598 Sermon 15.15. SC 130: 292; PL 194: 1740D. 599 Sermon 25.7. Gaudium est, amor est, delectation et suavitas, visio, lux, claritas, quod exigit a nobis Deus. ad quodfecit nos Deus. SC 207: 120; PL 194: 1773B. 600 Sermon 25.7. Omne exercitium nostrum tam laboris quam quietis, tam sermonis quam silentii, huc referamus. SC 207: 120; PL 194: 1773B. 601 Sermon 25.10. Itaque, fratres, omnis nostra, si vera est, disciplina, contemplationi et delectationi semper insudet, aut solius Dei libero otio, aut proximi ordinato negotio. SC 207: 122; PL 194: 1773D. 179

During this pitiable wandering of ours, where everything is imperfect, nothing is found perfect.,,602 The monastic life-its practices, disciplines, etc.-are means to an end, something that in the end gives way to the greater.

And yet there is something that surpasses even the contemplative life. In Sermon

1, Isaac suggests that to live the monastic life is to follow Christ up the mountain where the crowd cannot follow. "Therefore, brother, escape far away," he counsels, "do not return to the crowd, but rather remain in solitude, to follow Jesus, climb the mountain, tell the crowd: 'Where I am going, you cannot corne. ",603 And yet even the closest disciples who ascend the mountain with Christ are left behind at a certain point, namely, the final ascent whereby Christ becomes "the equal to the equal, the Son to the Father.,,604

Isaac goes on to explain how, despite his own intellectual formation and abilities, the monastic approach is not an intellectual one. "Sensual understanding or life is darkness," he reports, "but spiritual understanding and life are daylight.,,605 Knowing

God, Isaac offers, is synonymous with loving God. This, again, is not intellectual but rather spiritual. "Since knowing the true God is eternal life, to love with the entire heart is the true way. Therefore, love is the way; love is the likeness, the true image; love is the prize, truth is the reward; by love we travel, in truth we stand.,,606

602 Sermon 17.19. Quid enim post activam vitam, nisi speculativa restat, quae visione Dei, et delectatione consummator? Verum quoniam in hac aerumnosa peregrinatione, ubi omnia ex parte sunt, et nihil invenitur perfectum. SC 130: 324; PL 194: 1748B. 603 Sermon 104. Ideo, frater, elonga fugiens, ne recurras ad turbam, sed mane in solitudine, sequere Iesum, subi in montem, dic turbae: Quo ego vado, non potes venire. SC 130: 86; PL 194: 1690A. 604 Sermon 1.7. (T)ertio ubi nemo eum sequi potest, universitatem creaturae transiliens, solus salit aequalis ad aequalem, Filius ad Patrem. SC 130: 88; PL 194: 169lB. 605 Sermon 16.9. Carnalis sensus sive vita tenebrae; spiritalis autem sensus et vita dies. SC 130: 300; PL 194: 1742D. 606 Sermon 16.16. Ut cognoscat verum Deum, aeterna est vita, sed ut toto corde diligat, vera est via. Caritas ergo via, veritas vita; caritas similitude, veritas imago; caritas meritum, veritas praemium; caritate itur, veritate statur. SC 130: 306; PL 194: 1744B. 180

This devotion and abandonment to truth requires the abandonment ofthe world

and its wisdom. "We have fled worldliness entirely and this present world almost as

completely," Isaac tells his monks, "so that nothing would hinder our searching for

you.,,607 Indeed, Isaac implores the brothers that they always cling to and never leave

God. 608

The embrace of the monastic life, according to Isaac, requires attention to praxis,

in particular attention to prayer and meditation. "A heart that would contemplate should

be as bright as a mirror and shine just as a still pool ofthe clearest water," he states in

Sermon 25, "so that in it and through it the mind may see itself, as in a mirror and

through a mirror, an image in the image of God.,,609 One's life, in other words, must be

spiritual before one's understanding can be spiritual.

This, as we have seen, is a commonplace in monastic literature, from the Desert

Fathers and Cassian in particular. In Sermon 12, Isaac implores: "This is what order

requires, reason demands, why I am hardly silent to you, that if one wants to be truly

spiritual in meditation, understanding and doctrine, then one's life, habits and virtues

must be spiritual first; affection is foremost, more than reason.,,610

Isaac's insistence is no doubt due to his understanding ofthe monastic life as one

of striving and struggle, as well as an exile or seeking. "For God's purpose in showing or uncovering to us something about himself is not to satisfy us, but rather to excite our

607 Sermon 21.7. (Q)ui mente totum et corpore/ere totum mundum/ugimus, ut expediti quaereremus teo SC 207: 52-4; PL 194: 1759B. 608 Sermon 21.14-5. SC 207: 58-60; PL 194: 1760B-C. 609 Sermon 25.14-5. Cor vero contemplantis perlucere oportet tamquam speculum aut aquam limpidissimam et quietam, ut in ipso per ipsum, sicut in speculo per speculum, videat mens suam ad imaginem Dei imaginem. SC 207: 124; PL 194: 1774B-C. 610 Sermon 12.1. Hoc enim ordo exigit, ratio exposcit, nos/ere nusquam tacemus, ut qui vult esse vere spiritualis, prius sit vita, moribus, virtutibus, ut esse posit aliquando meditatione, sensu, doctrina; prius sit affectione, quam ratione. SC 130: 250; PL 194: 1730A. 181

searching," he says. "We are not meant to settle down satisfied, but rather have our thirst

grow greater.,,611

This squares well with Isaac's correlation ofphysical toil and asceticism with the

spiritual life. "So, my brothers," he tells his monks in Sermon 5, "let your exhausting

work, the roughness of your solitude, the strain of your vigil, whether bodily training or

spiritual studies, have no other purpose than to rid you of faults and by arranging your

manner cover you in virtue.,,612 If one becomes the virtue for which one strives, then

training and the active life is the necessary perquisite for the contemplative life. 613

All the while Christ remains the model and norm ofthe monastic life and the

monks' "toilsome journey" through this life.614 In Sermon 18 Isaac elaborates on the

parable ofthe sower to demonstrate how Christ is an example to monks. The seed is the

word ofGod and the sower the Son ofMan, both ofwhich are identical. The sower, as

Isaac interprets, sows himself by the example ofhis deeds as well as his teaching. "The

seed is, therefore, the word of God, the sower is the Son ofman," Isaac tells his monks,

"not only the very Word of God but also the very Son ofman, whence seed and sower are

the same.,,615

The sower, Isaac continues, sows himself by the example ofhis deeds as well as his teaching. The seed can also enter the heart by grace. "There are indeed many

sowings ofthe word," Isaac offers. "One interior, another exterior; one to the ear ofthe

611 Sermon 23.3. Nihil enim hie ostendit aut revelat de se Deus, ut visum sufficiat, sed ut ad inquirendum aeeendat; nihil, ut hie satiet, sed ut ad sitiendum exeitet. SC 207: 82; PL 194: 1765C. 612 Sermon 5.24. Itaque ad nihil aliud, quaeso, fratres mei, sudet labor vester, squaleat solitude, vigilet intentio, sive eorporalis exereitii, sive studii spiritualis, quam, ut vitiis expulses, eompositisque moribus, induetis virtutibus. SC 130: 160; PL 194: l708C-D. 613 Sermon 17.17-9. SC 130: 322-4; PL 194: 1748A-C. 614 Sermon 12.6. (I)n hac aerumnosa peregrinatione nullum earitatis officium reeusare pro Christo. SC 130: 254; PL 194: 1731A-B. 615 Sermon 18.4. Semen est ergo verbum Dei, sator Filius hominis; sed ipsum Dei Verbum ipse Filius hominis, unde et semen et sator idem. SC 207: 10; PL 194: 1750B. 182

heart, another to the ear ofthe body; furthennore, one by the word ofteaching to the ear,

another by example of life to the eye, another by inspiration ofgrace enters the heart.,,616

Although the scribes and Pharisees could speak to the ear, their actions were unable to

convince the eyes. Christ's disciples, following Christ as the pattern, are able to sow as

Christ did, offering themselves as examples as well as by the assistance of grace.

"Indeed, Christ the one true master sows without by example and word, and helps within

by the gift of grace.,,617

Word and example thus converge, along with grace itself. Just as Christ spoke

externally and internally, thereby proving by his own life his obedience to the Father,

Isaac is unequivocal that the lives ofhis monks ought also to be indivisible. It is silly,

Isaac argues in Sermon 30, to cheer others on in battle if one lacks the courage to stand in

the line ofbattle for oneself.618 It was necessary for Christ himselfto give to the world

not his teaching but also the example ofhis life. It is no different for the monks, to offer

transfonned and truly Christ-like lives in word and deed.

It is my argument that Isaac's point in his sennons is to convey teaching on the

monastic life. In Sermon 48 he does not appear to be describing an apologia for his

speculative preaching or the change in his style ofpreaching as a result ofhis support of

Becket. Rather, he is defending traditional monastic practice-----{;onsistent practice, i.e.,

consistency between word and deed-in the face of scholasticism of one fonn or other as

616 Sermon 18.8. Sunt enim plures sationes verbi: alia interior, alia exterior; alia ad aures carnis, alia ad aures cordis; alia denique foris ad aures verbo doctrinae, alia ad oculos exemplo vitae, alia ad cor intus inspiratione gratiae. SC 207: 14; PL 194: 1750D-1751A. 617 Sermon 18.9. Unus vero verus magister Christusforis seminat vita et voce, intus iuvat dono gratiae. SC 207: 14; PL 194: 1751A. 618 Sermon 30.7. SC 207: 184; PL 194: 1788D. 183

well as at least one military order. 619 In other words, Isaac is writing as a monk more

than anything else.

D. Summary

In the light ofIsaac's predecessors in monastic literature, both in the East and the

West, I have argued that Isaac's focus or intent is on the spiritual formation and direction

ofhis monks, not political matters. This is especially clear in Isaac's sermons where he

demonstrates little interest in the events ofhis day, even those in which he was directly

involved. When we consider the way in which monastic literature treats circumstantial

and historical details, as well as geographical and spatial references, Isaac is not unique in

minimizing the former and dealing less than literally with the latter. And owing to

Isaac's admitted preference for allegory, it follows that his references to "exile" should

not be taken literally.

Raciti's argument concerning Isaac's sermons and their revelation ofbiographical

clues, however, concludes otherwise. Isaac's references to "exile" refer to an actual

period offorced stay on R6 as a result ofhis support ofBecket. The foundation ofthe

monastery on R6 as well as Isaac's exile occurred relatively late, both of which Raciti

took as proof ofhis description of Isaac as the victim in the course of twelfth-century power politics. And yet Isaac was not alone in supporting Becket's cause against Henry.

619 McGinn has written that "(a) scholastic vein among these early Cistercians found its most significant voice in Isaac, the controversial abbot ofStella, who seems to have ended his days in exile on the Isle ofRe off La Rochelle." McGinn, Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century (World Spirituality 16; New York: Crossroad, 1985),215. McGinn's remark needs to be reconsidered, however, not least because while Isaac was certainly exposed to what can reasonably be considered to be among the very best ofthe scholastics of his day (most notably Abelard), Sermon 48 demonstrates his rethinking of this approach in the light ofhis experience as a monk. This is why in many sermons Isaac emphasizes the monastic life, poverty, etc. 184

What is more, supporters ofBecket who were involved more significantly than

Isaac-chiefly Bellesmains and Geoffrey-suffered no loss ofpolitical fortunes. As there is no indication that Isaac's approach would have been less nuanced or differed significantly from that of Bellesmains or Geoffrey, it is difficult to believe that a

Cistercian abbot on the fringe of Becket's supporters would have suffered the loss ofhis abbey and been forced to flee his community.

I have argued, on the one hand, that the style ofIsaac's preaching is consistent with his monastic forebears and, therefore, not a reliable source for either biographical or contemporary information. I have also agued that the episode on Re appears to have been for Isaac an early and briefparenthesis in an otherwise uncontroversial career at Stella.

Isaac was neither a significant supporter of Becket nor an unfortunate victim because of it. He was, rather, a monk who preached to monks and his sermons demonstrate that despite his considerable learning and rhetorical skills, his was concerned above all else with conveying to his flock the purpose, tools and goal ofthe monastic life. 185

Summary and Concluding Remarks

A. Summary

The purpose ofthis study was to demonstrate on the basis ofthe historical and

documentary evidence, as well as the political and ecclesiastical context ofBecket's

struggle with Henry, that Isaac's role was a marginal one. I demonstrated further that whatever support Isaac may have given to Becket and his cause, such was not the reason

for either official sanction or retribution. I argued that Isaac's support of Becket was minimal and did not lead either to his exile on R6 or consequences affecting his abbacy.

Furthermore, I argued that while Raciti and others have claimed that Isaac provides clues in his sermons concerning his support of Becket and its consequences, they actually provide proof of Isaac's continuity with the Christian monastic tradition.

I began this study with a statement ofthe problem and described its relevance, as well as the thesis that I have defended. I also established my guiding questions for the dissertation, namely, whether evidence exists for Isaac's direct role in the Becket controversy as well as his support of Becket and whether Raciti's theory concerning

Isaac's forced exile as a consequence of his support of Becket is sound.

In addition to this, I established two points that formed the foundation ofmy argument concerning Isaac. First, that Raciti's theory concerning Isaac, Becket and

Isaac's "exile" is an insufficient one, built upon evidence that fails to consider the historical as well as other contexts. Second, that Raciti's theory overemphasizes Isaac's role, giving him a status or importance he did not have, while overlooking Isaac's roles as monk and abbot and the implications ofboth. 186

Interest in Isaac's life and works has grown over the past several decades, as

demonstrated by the number of scholarly articles as well as the use made of Isaac's works

by the Roman Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council. Isaac's involvement in

Becket's controversy with Henry has been the stimulus for much of the attention of

scholars and served as the basis for this study. Raciti's thesis that Isaac suffered for his

support ofBecket-the loss ofhis abbacy and forced exile on the island ofRe­

continues to be a commonplace in the scholarly literature. Isaac is understood in the end

as a victim who died in disgrace in his place of exile.

There is no shortage of information concerning the Becket controversy; the

correspondence from Becket alone amounts to a goldmine of information. Becket's role

and that ofHenry are well known; Isaac's role, however, is less than clear. While Isaac

offered to support Becket via intercessory prayer, neither Becket's correspondence nor

other relevant materials describe Isaac as a significant supporter.

What we can cobble together concerning Isaac's biography is in keeping with his

times. Isaac arrived on the Continent at some point to study and subsequently became a

monk in the Cistercian Order. There is enough evidence to suggest that Isaac came to

France but to cite specific schools and masters remains difficult. When and where Isaac

became a monk is also unclear. He rose eventually to become the abbot of Stella, where

he wrote the 55 sermons and two treatises attributed to him.

Given the relative paucity of scholarship on Isaac, many scholars concur with

Bouyer's comment that he is "a great mystery among the Cistercians.,,62o Isaac is, however, no longer a great mystery. There is much about him that remains elusive, ifnot mysterious, but in the past century a number of scholars have contributed to a body of

620 Bouyer, Cistercian Heritage, 161. 187 scholarly literature on Isaac that, while modest compared to the greater lights ofthe twelfth century, continues to grow. In the Chapter I, I described and elaborated upon this literature, beginning with the early researches ofBliemetzrieder and Debray-Mulatier and continuing up to the present. I surveyed the scholars who have produced a growing body ofwork concerning Isaac's thought and works. The study ofIsaac's life and works-his sermons in particular-has been greatly improved by the publication ofthe critical edition ofhis sermons in the Sources chretiennes series and English translations of a good number ofIsaac's sermons have been published over the years.

The issue ofIsaac's involvement in the Becket controversy is a topic that has occupied the attention of scholars over the years. Bliemetzrieder's early article identified the island ofRe as the location to which Isaac refers in his sermons. Debray-Mulatier demonstrated that while Isaac petitioned for the monks of Citeaux and Pontigny to intervene on Becket's behalf, Isaac apparently did not suffer for it; she also argued for a relatively early date for the founding of Notre Dame des CMteliers on Re.

Raciti produced his seminal study of Isaac's sermons with the intention of collecting biographical information from them. The influence ofthis study was considerable and continues even today. Raciti argued that Isaac's political fortunes were lost due to his support of Becket's cause against Henry. Following the Cistercian Order's withdrawal of hospitality and Becket's departure from Pontigny, Geoffrey of Auxerre moved against Isaac who was forced into exile and subsequently died on Re. Raciti later amended his theory by eliminating Geofrey's role but his theory would remain practically unchanged: Isaac's time on Re, which coincided with the foundation of the monastery, 188

occurred toward the end ofhis life and amounted to a forced exile following the loss of

his abbacy in the wake of the Becket controversy_

Salet's and McGinn's subsequent studies basically accepted Raciti's outline and

chronology. For both, a forced exile on Re as a result ofIsaac's support of Becket was

assumed. It was not until Garda's study that Raciti's theory was seriously challenged.

Garda discovered a cache ofarchival material that seemed to indicate that Isaac actually

died as the abbot of Stella, while other material suggested an early date for the foundation

ofNotre Dame des Chateliers. Garda became the first scholar to undermine seriously

Raciti's argument and offer a view ofIsaac not as the victim ofpersecution due to his support of Becket, but rather as a medieval abbot who ended his days in peace.

Gastaldelli and Dietz followed Garda in further questioning Raciti, the former arguing against Geoffrey's involvement as well as Raciti's forced exile theory and the latter arguing against Raciti's method ofusing Isaac's sermons as sources ofbiographical and historical information. I reported in this chapter that I have followed Garda,

Gastaldelli and Dietz in their criticism of Raciti's theory. Like them I took issue with

Raciti's attempt to use Isaac's sermons as source ofhistorical and biographical information.

Likewise I took issue with Raciti's theory that Isaac's time on Re amounted to a forced exile due to his diminishing political fortunes. Unlike Garda, Gastaldelli or Dietz, however, I discussed Isaac's sermons in the monastic context whence they came. This described the significance ofIsaac's sermons, namely, as the product ofa monk for monks, reflecting as they inevitably do the world in which they lived and worked. 189

In Chapter II, I focused mainly on Becket and Isaac's role in the controversy

between the former and Henry. I then provided background concerning the Investiture

Controversy as well as the origins of the Cistercian Order. Finally, I elaborated on my

collection and analytical strategies and explained how these formed the basis ofmy

argument and criticisms.

Becket's life and death especially have been the subject of and, indeed,

immortalized in verse as well as on stage and screen. From his humble beginnings in

twelfth-century London to becoming the archbishop of Canterbury, Becket's life during

his time up to ours continues to fascinate. Becket's associations were as important as his

enemies, and this practically ensured (in addition to Becket's passionate and obstinate

personality) the clash between Henry and himself.

Even though the Investiture Controversy in England did not exactly parallel the

situation on the Continent, the relationship between secular and ecclesiastical power was

the focus of much interest and intensity. Henry was bent on reasserting his control over

the English church, which he declared unambiguously in the Constitution of Clarendon of

1164. When Becket rejected these, his path toward the clash that led to his dramatic

murder in Canterbury Cathedral on the Feast of the Holy Innocents in 1170 was set.

Becket's close relations with the Cistercian Order are expected, given the latter's

dedication to the papacy and in particular the reforms of Gregory VII. Becket's

correspondence reveals how much he relied upon the order-spiritually as well as practically-during his clash with Henry. It was to the Cistercian monastery at Pontigny that Becket would flee in 1164, and while the order would rescind its earlier offer of 190 hospitality in 1166, Becket and the order shared a great deal concerning the church's authority and rights.

Isaac's decision to become a Cistercian is in keeping with his times, given the order's growth and expansion during his lifetime. While Bellesmains, in a letter to

Becket, refers to Isaac as their "common friend," were it not for this reference there would be nothing to indicate Isaac's active support of Becket. Indeed, there would be no mention ofIsaac whatsoever in Becket's voluminous correspondence ifnot for this remark. There is also nothing to indicate any consequences that Isaac may have suffered as a result of any support of Becket's cause against Henry.

Following the historical information, I described my collection and analytical strategies. My focus was on the historical and documentary evidence concerning the foundation of the Notre Dame des Chateliers in addition to Isaac's sermons. Earlier scholarship on Isaac and his sermons failed to consider Isaac's predecessors in monastic literature as well as to understand them as an example ofthe genre of the monastic sermon. On the basis ofboth earlier examples from monastic sermons and the methodology of sermon studies, I discussed Isaac's sermons not only against their immediate historical background but also in their monastic and theological context. In so doing, I explained how Isaac's support of Becket was nothing for which he would have suffered exile.

Finally, I argued in Chapter III that Isaac's focus or intent is on the spiritual formation and direction ofhis monks, not political matters, and that analyzing his sermons for historical or biographical information is problematic. I explained how monastic literature treats circumstantial and historical details, as well as geographical and 191

spatial references. Isaac is not unique in relativizing the importance ofthe former and

dealing less than literally with the latter. In addition, given Isaac's admitted penchant for

allegory, it follows that his references to "exile" ought not to be taken literally.

Raciti's theory concerning Isaac's sermons and inherent biographical clues

concludes otherwise. Isaac's references to "exile" refer to an actual period of forced stay

on R6 as a consequence of his support ofBecket. The foundation of the monastery on R6

as well as Isaac's exile occurred relatively late, both of which Raciti took as proof of

Isaac's loss of political fortunes following the Becket controversy. Isaac, however, was

not alone in supporting Becket. Indeed, supporters of Becket who were involved more

significantly than Isaac---chiefly Bellesmains and Geoffrey-suffered no losses, political

or otherwise.

Furthermore, I argued that the style ofIsaac's preaching is consistent with the

monastic tradition and, therefore, not a reliable source for either biographical or

contemporary information. I also argued that the episode on R6 appears to have been

little more than an early and briefparenthesis in an otherwise uncontroversia1 career at

Stella. Isaac was neither a significant supporter of Becket nor an unfortunate victim as a result. He was a monk who preached to monks and his sermons demonstrate that despite his erudition and skill, Isaac was concerned ultimately with conveying to his monks the purpose and goal of the monastic life. 192

B. Interpretation

Several years ago, when reading Isaac's sermons for the first time, I realized that

Leclercq's remark concerning sermons as "written rhetoric" was not helping me to understand fully the monastic context and content of Isaac's preaching.621 As time went on, especially as I became engaged with the research of Raciti and others, I understood less and less how Isaac's sermons-indeed, how Isaac's rhetoric, written or otherwise­ functioned as rhetorical objects.

A break came while reading Garda and especially Isaac himself with a view to those who came before him, namely, Isaac's predecessors in the Christian monastic tradition. This helped me to realize that what Isaac was interested in primarily was not conveying historical or autobiographical information in his sermons but rather the process oftransformation. Although Isaac does refer to the personal or quotidian, his goal in his sermons is the transformation of his audience rather than the presentation of any specific historical or circumstantial information. Isaac's sermons are less a catalogue or resume ofhistorical detail and much more a primer ofpersonal transformation.

This led me to realize that my initial dissatisfaction with Leclercq was on the right track and that neither Leclercq nor Raciti could account for the way Isaac's sermons functioned. As a result of this study, I now see at lest four areas concerning Isaac's sermons that need to be reconsidered. First and likely most obvious, this study pays particular attention to Isaac's teaching on the goal ofthe monastic life, specifically the transformation ofthe monk. While previous scholarship has focused on a range of topics such as Isaac's Christo10gy and ecclesiology, and while Raciti in particular has argued

621 Leclercq, Love ofLearning, 154. 193

that Isaac's sermons provide clues to his involvement in the Becket controversy as well

as his fall from grace, I have suggested an alternative strategy for reading Isaac. My

strategy is to read Isaac's sermons backward, as it were, focusing on their monastic

content and context.

Such a strategy requires, in particular, refocusing attention on Isaac's teaching

concerning the Bible and prayer. Isaac's clear preference for allegory is part and parcel

ofhis teaching on the goal ofthe monastic life, for he means to move his monks beyond

the letter of the text as well as the physical or practical imitation ofthe earthly life of

Christ to real participation an ultimately transformation in ChriSt.622 Within this study I

have suggested just such an alternative and refocusing by taking seriously Isaac's

predecessors in the Christian monastic tradition and reading his sermons as continuations

of the same.

A second area I have developed and to which I have paid attention is closely

related to the above, namely, the purpose ofmonastic preaching. If Isaac was not

interested primarily in providing historical or circumstantial information in his sermons,

or his own commentary on the issues ofthe day, then in what was he interested? As I

have demonstrated on the basis ofrecent scholarship in the area of sermon studies, a

monastic preacher like Isaac was far more interested in providing spiritual and

theological direction than a presentation of daily affairs.

Kienzle, Muessig and others have provided much in their scholarship that has

been previously unrecognized in studies ofIsaac's sermons. Once the goal of the

monastic life is brought to the forefront as a way of understanding Isaac's sermons,

622 Isaac's penchant for allegorical interpretation is clear, as we have seen, in Sermon 1.4 and Sermon 11.16. For the theme oftransformation, see for example Sermon 16.15. 194 understanding the purpose of his sennons follows naturally. As a result, theology comes to the fore. "The twelfth-century monastic sennon reveals the theology and spirituality of its world," Kienzle describes, "providing also some glances at daily life in the cloister.,,623 But it is the fonner that is paramount. Given such an understanding, I have presented Isaac's sennons as less as a catalogue ofhistorical data and more in tenns of how he meant them to be heard and, ultimately, realized.

A third implication ofthis study concerns the perennial question ofwhether sennons such as Isaac's as we have them were preached as such or written in the genre of the sennon. "The written text is an inexact reflection of a preaching event," Kienzle writes. "Hence, the historian must grapple with the numerous ways in which inexactitude may occur."

For medieval sennon studies, one ofthe primary problems for research, perhaps the primary problem, lies in detennining whether there is any relationship between the text and an actual oral discourse, and if so, in identifying the nature ofthat relationship...There are many ways in which the written text may not correspond to the sennon as delivered. The language ofthe written text may not be the language in which the sennon was preached, because sennons preached in the vernacular were generally taken down in Latin.624

This is especially important for Sermon 48, Raciti's "basis ofhis interpretation of the life ofIsaac.,,625 While Leclercq's understanding ofthe monastic sennon as "written rhetoric" has proven helpful in some respects, I can only conclude that Isaac actually preached Sermon 48 (or at least some fonn of it, since the version actually preached may

623 Kienzle, "Conclusion," The Sermon, 979. 624 Kienzle, "Introduction," The Sermon, 169-70. 625 McGinn, Golden Chain, 5. 195

not correspond exactly with the text as we have it). Leclercq did not believe that

monastic sermons were always or necessarily preached, but were rather written along

conventional lines, in keeping with a genre on monastic literature (i.e., the sermon).626

Leclercq believed that Bernard's references to interruptions and other incidents

were literary conventions rather than what Bernard actually preached. Kienzle, following

Leclercq, declares that Bernard's masterful sermons on the Song of Songs "on the whole

constitute polished works of considerable literary merit, probably written for reading and not preaching.,,627 Christopher Holdsworth challenges this, however, in his essay "Were the Sermons of St Bernard on the Song of Songs Ever Preached?" as does M. B. Pranger in "Killing Time: An Essay on the Monastic Notion of Speed.,,628

The question of whether Isaac's sermons as we have them were actually preached is an important and, admittedly, difficult one. There is the matter of the text as we have it and whether it reflects something that was preached or is, rather, a purely literary work written following the conventions of the sermon. Isaac's sermons, as Salet describes in his Introduction to the critical edition o[Isaac's sermons in Sources chretiennes, are

626 Leclercq, Love 0/Learning, 167-76. 627 Kienzle, "Twelfth-Century Monastic Sennon," The Sermon, 291. Leclercq argues that they were not delivered in "Les Sermons sur Ie Cantiques ont-ils ete pronounces?," Revue benedictine 65 (1955): 71-89; ET: "Introduction," in On the Song o/Songs II, trans. Kilian Walsh (CF 7; Kalamazoo, Mich., and London and Oxford: Cistercian and Mowbray, 1976), vii-xxx. 628 In Medieval Monastic Preaching, ed. Carolyn Muessig (Studies in Intellectual History 90; Leiden and Boston: Brill, 1998), 295-3 I8 and 3I9-35, respectively. Note Pranger's recent The Artificiality o/Christianity: Essays on the Poetics 0/Monasticism (Figurae; Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003). Holdsworth notes: "Very quickly Leclercq's view gained and held scholarly support. In 1980, for example, Emero Stiegman asserted on the basis ofwhat Leclercq had written that the sermons were not delivered: that they were 'the literary work of the scriptorium rather than the pulpit,' in which 'the text mimics and oral presentation.' All references in them to the time of day, or to the relation of his audience and so on were a 'pure contrivance-all histrionic.'" Muessig, Medieval Monastic Preaching, 297. Holdsworth is referring to Stiegman's article, "The Literary Genre of Bemard ofClairvaux's Sermones super Cantica Canticorum," in Simplicity and Ordinariness, ed. John R. Sommerfeldt (CS 61; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1980),68-93, at 71,73 and 75, respectively. 196

literary works bearing evidence ofcareful composition.629 "When a genre that is

supposed to be oral can only be recorded for posterity in a textual form," Muessig notes,

"the relationship between the written record and the preaching event becomes clouded."

The textual witness may introduce a misunderstanding, an assumption that such "texts" were never preached. Furthermore, the form and style of sermons could come in various packages, sometimes appearing to be treatises, letters, biblical commentaries, and saints' lives, adding further confusion to what constitutes the content ofpreaching.630

Modem scholars, therefore, face a dilemma: no matter how we decide the matter (i.e.,

whether a sermon was actually preached or not), we can only have access to the text as a

63 text. We can never again recreate the moment in which any sermon was preached. !

Raciti assumes Isaac preached the sermons as we have them; he makes much,

after all, ofSermon 48 as Isaac's "apology." Raciti also argues that Isaac preached the

sermon in the vernacular. 632 The question, then, is whether Isaac delivered his sermons

in the form we now have them? I believe he did.

Finally, this study contributes to a similar and no less vexing question, namely, in which language did Isaac preach? Hoste, for example, mentions that both Bernard and

Isaac undoubtedly preached in the vernacular.633 Bruun argues that for Isaac in particular, "the homiletic style also may have been shaped according to the comprehensive nature of the audience (as well as) Isaac of Stella's consideration for the rhetorical accessibility of the sermon."

629 SC 130: 26-35. 630 Muessig, Medieval Monastic Preaching, 5. 63! "Although the sermon is essentially an oral discourse," Kienzle writes, "written sermons often served either for preaching or for reading. Moreover, modem readers deal with the medieval sermon only as a written text." Kienzle, "Introduction," The Sermon, 159. 632 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 285. 633 SC 130: 34 197

Isaac's third sennon for the Nativity ofJohn the Baptist [Sermon 48] is concerned with homiletic style; he regrets that his community has become so accustomed to subtleties and elegant renewals of the old, that if"we say something that we have already said---or that may be found in writing somewhere-it makes you either sick or angry." But Isaac goes on to state that on feast days such as that ofthe nativity ofJohn the Baptist, "when a crowd oflay people gathers from all directions," the sennons are "simple and for the simple, and communicated in pedestrian words for the sake ofthose who have not yet assumed wings but follow the ambulating Jesus on foot.,,634

This is a knotty issue but one that could bear fruit. Kienzle suggests that this may

prove promising when it comes to research concerning Bernard's sennons. "In the

absence ofextratextual manuscript evidence such as ~ernard's letter to 'G,'" she writes,

"we must look to intertextual factors in order to try to detennine how closely the written

monastic sennon reflects and oral fonn. It is possible to reach the conclusion that a

sennon was not preached, but impossible, I think, to conclude that it was.,,635

Kienzle's insights and instincts could apply equally well in the case ofIsaac. Her

work and the recent scholarship of others represent a complement to my own on the

purpose and actual audience ofmonastic sennons.

C. Limitations

As with any lengthy study, there are certain limitations to this one, most ofwhich

are due to the relative obscurity ofIsaac and the data I used to develop. For the fonner,

while much has been written on Isaac compared to the initial research ofBliemetzrieder

over a century ago, much about Isaac's life remains unknown. What can be pieced

634 Mette Birkedal Bruun, "Mapping the Monastery: Helinand of Froidmont's Second Sermon for Palm Sunday," in Predication et liturgie au Moyen Age, ed. Nicole Beriou and Franco Morenzoni (Bibliotheque d'histoire culturelle du moyen age 5; Turnhout: Brepols, 2008), 187-8. 635 Kienzle, "Typology ofthe Medieval Sermon," De l'homelie au sermon, 98. 198 together concerning his background and education is only partial and not wholly satisfying. Specific biographical details remain elusive and Isaac himself is reticent to divulge much about himself in his sermons. Had I studied a twelfth-century writer about whom more was known, perhaps I would have been able to analyze data more completely or precisely. In any case, what can be determined about Isaac's life and times provides grist for the mill nevertheless as this study and earlier scholarship demonstrates.

For Isaac's sermons themselves, the existence ofa critical edition-fundamental to any serious approach to sermons studies-is a boon to scholars. Considering the number ofunedited sermons awaiting an editor's attention, we are fortunate to have

Isaac's entire oeuvre. The number ofIsaac's sermons extant, however, is only 55 and while hardly a small number my research might have been affected had I compared and contrasted Isaac's sermons with those ofBernard or other Cistercians, or monastic preachers outside the order. Given that my primary objective was to layout the general framework of Isaac's theology, quite specifically his approach to the monastic life, I focused on Isaac's sermons alone and in particular those in which he articulates this approach most directly.

My approach in this study is an historical and theological one. I am, therefore, reading Isaac's sermons as an historical theologian and not as a linguist or philologist.

While I have done my best to read Isaac in the original Latin I am neither a classicist nor

Latinist in particular by training. My goal has been to render Isaac into workable, ifnot elegant, English and I have relied on a variety of dictionaries and other lexical aids as well as available English translations to check my own work. This creates another limitation since my interest lay more with Isaac's thoughts and concepts, rather than the 199 words themselves. While Hoste, Salet and Raciti have done a superlative job in editing

Isaac's sermons in the Sources chretiennes series, I have been frankly incapable of engaging in similar scrutiny which mayor may not have affected some of my findings.

Another limitation has to do with the breadth of sermon studies itself. The diversity ofapproaches and methodologies ofsermons studies, to say nothing ofthe backgrounds of the scholars who are rapidly adding to the field, ensures that a diversity of opinions and findings will continue. This is at the same time a weakness or at least for this writer a limitation. James W. O'Malley avers that a scholar "must draw upon the findings and methodology of exegesis, liturgy, theology, social history, cultural history, literary criticism, textual criticism, and many other disciplines.,,636

While I am an expert in neither social nor cultural history, and unlike Katherine

Jansen I cannot treat at length any clues in Isaac's sermons concerning popular devotion,637 I can add my voice and research to the continuing efforts. In particular I have used my knowledge of the history of Christian monasticism and monastic theology and how this affected Isaac's sermons. Sermons studies has helped me in understanding

Isaac's sermons as well as articulating my response to Raciti.

Perhaps more than any other scholar, Louis-Jacques Bataillon established the methodological basis for sermon studies.638 Beyond matters of authorship, date and provenance, Bataillon demonstrated that prior to using a sermon as an historical source,

636 James W. O'Malley, "Introduction: Medieval Preaching," in De oro domini: Preacher and Word in the Middle Ages, ed. Thomas L. Amos et al. (Studies in Medieval Culture 27; Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publications, 1989), 2. 637 While Jansen's research has not focused heretofore on either Isaac or the Cistercians, it has discovered how mendicant preaching on Mary Magdalene in particular affected popular devotion. See her recent study, The Making ofthe Magdalen: Preaching and Popular Devotion in the Later Middle Ages (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000). 638 See especially Bataillon's La predication au XIII" siecle en France et Italie: Etudes et documents, ed. David d' Avray and Nicole B6riou (Variorum Collected Studies Series 402; Aldershot, Hampshire, and Brookfield, Vt.: Ashgate, 1993). 200

one has to understand, inter alia, the collection in which the sennon is found, the

sennon's function in the particular collection, and the sennon's liturgical role. Bataillon

also emphasized the particularly knotty issue of the relationship between the sennon as it has been preserved in its written fonn and its original oral presentation.

This admittedly narrow slice ofscholarship adds to a steadily growing body of scholarship from many areas. Indeed, scholars from a variety ofdisciplines have collaborated in order to understand better and more completely medieval sennons and the history ofpreaching. The International Medieval Sennon Studies Society and its journal,

Medieval Sermon Studies, is one tangible piece of evidence of such collaboration. Hans-

Jochen Schiewer and Volker Mertens established an international cadre of scholars called

SERMO in 1996, the purpose ofwhich is to produce a list ofvernacular sennons similar to Johannes-Baptist Schneyer's magisterial Repertorium der lateinischen Sermones des

Miltelalters fir die Ziet von 1150-1350.639

A fmallimitation ofthis study, one that is related to the above, has to do with the equally diverse field ofliteracy studies. While I have read studies by Brian Stock,640

Walter J. Ong,641 M. T. Clanchy,642 Harvey 1. Graff,643 Mary Carruthers,644 and others, I

639 Johannes-Baptist Schneyer, Repertorium der lateinischen Sermones des Mittelalters fiir die Zeit von 1150-1350 (Beitrage zur Geschicte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters; Munster: Aschendorff, 1969-90. II vols.). The Repertorium is a catalogue of over 100,000 medieval Latin sermons, arranged according to incipits and explicits. Schneyer also provides lists ofms. and printed editions of sermons, as well as sermons preached by particular authors or on specific feast days. Schneyer also lists sermons preached for reasons such as following plague or some other calamity. Muessig surely does not exaggerate when she divides sermons studies into the perods before and after Schneyer's magnum opus. "This extensive list ofsermons caused an explosion of research which took off in the 1970s," she relates. "Schneyer's Repertorium enabled, and still enables, scholars to enter into the widely untapped world of sermon literature by providing them with a detailed road map." Muessig, "Sermon, Preacher and Society," 75. 640 Brian Stock, The Implications ofLiteracy: Written Language and Models ofInterpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983). 641 Ong, Orality and Literacy. 642 M. T. Clanchy, From Memory to Written Record: England 1066-1307 (2d ed. Oxford and Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1993). 201

am too much of a non-specialist to use their concepts and theories as fully as I would

have liked in analyzing Isaac's sennons, nor could I engage them as directly as other

scholars on which I have focused in this study. While my lack of a background in

literacy studies is a limitation for this study it is, however, an advantage since I have

obtained great benefit from these scholars and have discovered areas for my own

scholarship on Isaac's sennons.

The plethora of scholarship and other resources concerning sennon studies

indicate the vastness of the field as well as opportunities for scholars from diverse

backgrounds. "Largely untapped," Kienzle writes, "many ofthese resources remain to be

identified, edited, read, and studied with care.,,645 Those ofus who are willing to engage

in oft-times laborious and unglamorous work will contribute nevertheless to the slow but

sure expansion ofknowledge of medieval sennons and tum up ground for subsequent

scholarship.

D. Directions for Future Research

This study suggests a previously unrecognized aspect ofIsaac's theology, namely,

that of the monastic life and in particular its purpose and goal. I have focused

specifically on Isaac's sennons and demonstrated that Isaac stands squarely within the

continuum of the Christian monastic tradition. This has helped to elucidate the question

of whether the standard view, beginning with Raciti's important and influential work in

643 Harvey J. Graff, The Legacies ofLiteracy: Continuities and Contradictions in Western Culture and Society (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1987). 644 Mary Carruthers, The Craft ofThought: Meditation, Rhetoric, and the Making ofImages, 400­ 1200 (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998). 645 Kienzle, "Conclusion," The Sermon, 982. 202

the early 1960s, concerning Isaac's forced into exile on Re as a result of his support of

Becket is correct.

I have argued and demonstrated that it is not, primarily on the basis of monastic

charters that prove a relatively early foundation of Notre Dame des Chiiteliers on Re as

well as, and more important, Isaac's sermons. Raciti's misreading ofIsaac's sermons­

reading them in order to ferret out historical and biographical information, but neglecting

altogether Isaac's use of allegory-raises the following questions with which to direct

future research.

First, Cistercian preaching in the vernacular in the twelfth century. Are there

parallels to popular twelfth-century literature, e.g., troubadours, chansons de geste? To

what extent was there vernacular preaching in Cistercian monasteries? Giles Constable's

"The Language of Preaching in the Twelfth Century" deals with the questions of how

sermons were prepared and transmitted in the Middle Ages (the twelfth century in particular), how and to whom they were preached, and in what language they were delivered. 646 Constable discusses the conception, delivery, transcription, and preservation of sermons, which often survive in a form quite different from the way they were preached.

Concerning the audiences of sermons, Constable studies the type and degree of linguistic divergences and the extent of bilingualism. Some preachers did not understand

Latin and some laypeople knew Latin, and both groups seem to have preferred some

Latin in sermons. Constable concludes that sermons were preached not only in Latin to the clergy and in the vernacular to the laity but also (contrary to the view of many

646 Giles Constable, "The Language of Preaching in the Twelfth Century," Viator 25 (1994): 131­ 52. 203

scholars) in a mixed or macaronic language to mixed audiences, which very well may

have been the case for Isaac.

The stories ofmiraculous understanding ofsermons in the vernacular, in other

words, demonstrate that the listeners did not always know the language in which the

sermon was preached. Whether there is internal or intertextual evidence to indicate

preaching in the vernacular is also something on which future research should focus. 647

Second but related to the above, Raciti argues that when Isaac says in Sermon

48.15 that he has spent "quite some time at that apologia of mine" and so little on the text

and the Feast ofSt. John the Baptist, the Latin text as we have it is merely a summary of

a longer sermon originally delivered in the vernacular.648 This is important in future

research on the question ofwhether there is a vernacular original underneath Sermon 48

(and other sermons ofIsaac) and how this could be determined.

This is important as well concerning the related question ofwhether Isaac

delivered his sermons orally or whether they were written to be read and, therefore, not

delivered. Is there any manuscript evidence that a vernacular sermon served as the basis

for a Latin summary or precis? Is there any evidence that any of Isaac's sermons were

given in the vernacular first and subsequently disseminated in Latin? Were his sermons delivered in the vernacular but transcribed in Latin? What would some clues be, clues within the text, if that were the case?

647 Note again Kienzle's remark from Ch. III, supra: "Audiences for medieval sermons, sometimes known and sometimes not, may be ascertained from extratextual indicators such as manuscript rubrics, or from intratextual, deixtic references, that is references to the sermon's actual situation-person, time, and place-which indicate the presence ofa real or imaginary audience and at times give clues to the audience's identity." Kienzle, "Introduction," The Sermon, 154. 648 Raciti, "Isaac de l'Etoile," 285. 204

Third, in Sermon 48.2, Isaac seemingly criticizes the incorporation ofthe Order of

Calatrava by Pope Alexander IlIon 26 September 1164.649 He goes so far as to call it "a new and monstrous breed ofmilitary.,,65o Does Isaac's remark indicate the unpopularity ofeither the order or, in the wake ofthe Second Crusade (1147-9), the crusading movement itself? Can we demonstrate whether Isaac's remark represents his personal view or, rather, a larger body ofpublic opinion? Does Isaac's criticism dovetail with the criticisms ofMinnesanger, troubadours, trouveres, etc.? What does the vernacular literature in Isaac's area at that time reveal? To what extent did other Cistercians offer their own criticisms ofeither military orders of the crusading movement? Isaac's preaching belongs to a time when there was extensive preaching concerning the Crusades among the Cistercians.

We know about Helinand of Froidmont, a former trouvere who became a

Cistercian ca. 1190, but were there other Cistercians? How did the order handle dissent when it came to the Crusades, either support ofor opposition to? Given Bernard's stature in the order, this research would seem to demonstrate a variety of opinions when it came to the Crusades. Elizabeth Siberry notes that "(t)he most serious reaction [i.e., reaction to the Crusades] occurred after the major reversal of Christian fortunes at Damascus on the

Second Crusade." Siberry continues: "Several chroniclers lamented that the expedition, which had aroused such expectations, had achieved nothing; and there seems to have been a general atmosphere ofbewilderment and despondency.,,651

649 See, for example, Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Cistercians, Heresy and Crusade in Occitania, 1145-1229: Preaching in the Lord's Vineyard (Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom, and Rochester, N.Y.: York Medieval Press and The Boydell Press, 2001) and Elizabeth Siberry, Criticism a/Crusading: 1095-1274 (Oxford and New York: Clarendon and Oxford University Press, 1985). 650 See Chapter I, supra. 651 Siberry, Criticism a/Crusading, 190. Siberry continues: "This was manifested in various ways. First, because of his advocacy ofthe crusade, St. Bernard received much personal criticism, and one 205

Fourth and finally, while I agree with Raciti that Isaac's Sermon 48 was delivered

orally, this nevertheless raises the question ofthe genre of the monastic sermon and

whether monastic sermons were delivered orally or were, rather, literary works, i.e.,

"written rhetoric." More to the point, the important question for future research is if

Isaac initially delivered his sermons orally, did he or an amanuensis with his knowledge

subsequently record them?

We know this was the practice with Bernard and others. "Some collections [of

sermons] were compiled by the author," Kienzle asserts. "During the last years ofhis

life, Bernard ofClairvaux grouped and revised many of his works, including series of his

sermons."

Guerric of Igny gathered his sermons into a collection. An abbot might request that one ofhis monks put together chapter talks. Julien ofVezelay dedicated his sermons to his abbot who had asked him to gather them. The monks too might ask the abbot to pursue in written form a topic discussed in chapter; such is the case for Aelred ofRievaulx's homilies on the burdens of Isaiah. Finally, sermons were also collected after the preacher's death; Odo of Morimond's disciples put together his sermons after he died. 652

chronicler went so far as to question the divine inspiration of his preaching. Secondly, there was a poor response to Abbot Suger's efforts to launch a new crusade. In May 1150, Louis VII summoned French nobles and ecclesiastics to an assembly at Chartres in order to discuss plans for another expedition to the East. But according to St. Bernard, the barons were reluctant to take the cross; the proposed meeting at Compiegne in July never took place. It is interesting that two chroniclers attributed the lack of enthusiasm for the new crusade to opposition from the Cistercians, who appear to have suffered as a result of their involvement in the previous expedition; and when Suger died in 1151, no one took up his initiative...Pope Eugenius III called the Second Crusade 'the most severe injury ofthe Christian name which the church of God has suffered in our time,' and fears of a similar catastrophe seem to have made the papacy cautious about supporting future expeditions." Ibid., 191-2. 652 Kienzle, "Typology of the Medieval Sermon," De l'homelie au sermon, 92-3. Old writes: "The important collections of sermons of Saint Bernard that have (come down to us) are literary sermons written to be read. They are not stenographic records of actual sermons, although real sermons surely lie behind them, but sermons that have been taken down in outline form by notaries and edited, corrected, and perhaps expanded by the preacher. As Dom Leclercq explains it, the sermon had become a literary form in the time of Bernard. Some of the published sermons have a strong-others a weak-relation to the preached sermon." Old, Reading and Preaching, 257-8. Old cites Leclercq with whom he clearly agrees in whether Bernard's sermons were preached or not. 206

That being the case, we must consider internal evidence in order to determine how

closely the text reflects what was delivered orally, whether in Latin or the vernacular.

This research would surely expand of understanding ofIsaac's sermons, since McGinn's

remark about how "a thinker of such originality and power has been accorded such

cursory treatment in the past" still rings true when it comes to unraveling the manuscript

collections.653

Isaac was a monk who wrote for monks. What little can be known ofIsaac's

education reveals that he was a man of considerable learning. His sermons and other

works reveal the careful crafting of thought and precision of vocabulary. And yet, in the

midst of an elaborate explanation ofGod's substance (substantia), Isaac declares in

Sermon 22 that it is necessary either to be silent or to use "changing words.,,654 For Isaac,

God strikes dumb as much as he dwarfs.

Despite Isaac's learning and erudition, he was not loquacious but was rather of a piece with what Leclercq describes as "the literature of silence." "In the schools," he writes, "there is much talking, much 'disputation.'" This was Isaac's world during his youth but on becoming a monk, he entered a new world. "In the monastery," Leclercq continues, "they write because they do not talk, they write to avoid speaking.,,655

Isaac gave himself neither to "much 'disputation'" nor display ofhis learning. He gave himself, rather, to the tradition of which he was a part, a tradition of reading, understanding and applying Scripture to the monks in his care as well as to himself. As an heir of Cassian and Benedict, Isaac claimed their mantle in his service to Christ and the monks entrusted to his care. In the end Isaac meant to give only what he had been

653 McGinn, The Golden Chain, 33. 654 Sermon 22.10. Tacere, aut mutuatis uti verbis, necesse est. SC 207: 70; PL 194: 1762D. 655 Leclercq, Love ofLearning, 154. 207 gIven. It is only fitting, then, that Isaac should have ended his days on earth not as a disgraced exile far from his monastery but rather as the very abbot and spiritual father of the community at Stella, his true "exile" from Eden. 208

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